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from the breaking-up-is-hard-to-do dept.
The USA has been making life difficult for Americans residing abroad; FATCA causes plenty of problems; but so does citizenship-based taxation. The IRS and Treasury department have made the reporting and taxation more onerous, and stepped up their collection efforts.
The result should be a surprise to no one: more and more Americans are handing in their US citizenship. Total numbers are unavailable (the lists published by the government include only a portion of the total), but undisputed is the fact that the numbers are increasing rapidly.
Having lots of citizens want to leave is...embarrassing. One solution could be to review the policies leading to people to hand in their citizenship. Another would be to make the fee unaffordable, especially for people living on second- or third-world incomes. It's obvious, of course, which route the USA has chosen: It now costs $2350 to hand in your US passport; more than 20 times the international average.
(Score: 2) by Geezer on Wednesday December 03 2014, @05:03PM
You write as if illegal entry into, and work/travel within the USA incurs any real risk of arrest or deportation these days.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Lunix Nutcase on Wednesday December 03 2014, @05:07PM
You seem to falsely imply it *ever* entailed much risk of arrest or importation. Illegals have been freely coming and going and working in the US with hardly any risk for decades and decades. You do realize that was part of the reason Reagan granted amnesty nearly 30 years ago, right?