Divorce with USA

[RWS]

How would they know how much he makes if he doesn't fill any tax forms?

Ah, now you ask me to share professional secrets! No, I don't work for the Internal Revenue Service; but the full, complex answer to this is part of the knowledge of any good tax attorney.

. . . . From what I'm reading this on this thread, the policy of the US government with regard to citizenship seems to be the same of the Cosa Nostra with regard to new initiates:" You come in alive, you go out dead."

Renunciation of American citizenship without trailing obligations is no longer so simple as once it was, but it certainly may be made.

 

[bigbadwolf]

Ah, now you ask me to share professional secrets! No, I don't work for the Internal Revenue Service; but the full, complex answer to this is part of the knowledge of any good tax attorney.

But my point is surely you'd need to be someone who would require a good tax attorney in the first place if you wanted to get worried about US tax obligations? If you're a minnow like myself, I doubt the IRS would go to the trouble of tracing my whereabouts and then asking the country of my residence for tax records. I'd have to be big enough -- say like Marc Rich -- to be in the crosshairs of the IRS. For a non-entity like myself, surely the attitude of the US government would be, "Bugger off and good riddance?"

Renunciation of American citizenship without trailing obligations is no longer so simple as once it was, but it certainly may be made.

Sorry, I can't resist asking but what are the advantages of US citizenship today (other than being able to impress and pick up truckloads of Czech girls)?

 

[Rad]

OK, aside from being VERY impractical, renounciation of US citizenship is a way to protest against the US wars and eroding freedoms. Many of you here are Democrats and were actively campaining for "Change". Now, what if Obama fails to deliver? His cabinet is full of insiders, War in Afghanistan will be expanded and Obama's Secretary of Defense already announced that the US will stay in Iraq for a very long time. PATRIOT Act will not be repealed. Will any of the protesters among you renounce their US citizenship and maybe apply for citizenship in a different country?

 

[mini]

The US does tax the income of its citizens regardless of where they reside. The first ~84k are tax-free, everything after that is taxed at the normal rates. The rules are complex, to fully understand them talk to a CPA or research the IRS website. I don't think renouncing his citizenship will be an act recognized by the IRS, if they can figure out a way to get some money out of him they will.

That is only the case for really rich people who give up their citizenship to avoid paying taxes. He's a translator & editor in Slovakia. I highly doubt he makes enough money to interest the IRS.

Apart from that, I do wonder if he will be allowed to renounce his citizenship due to the UN treaties to avoid that people become stateless. The US maybe obliged to reject his request as he has no other citizenship. Who knows.

 

[Italia311]

Sorry, I can't resist asking but what are the advantages of US citizenship today (other than being able to impress and pick up truckloads of Czech girls)?

I'm wondering the same thing...

 

[RWS]

. . . . I can't resist asking but what are the advantages of US citizenship today (other than being able to impress and pick up truckloads of Czech girls)?

Isn't that enough?

Seriously, advantages do exist. Among others, for me, are a sense of connection with my past (I grew up abroad, thanks to my father's peripatetic career, but my family have lived in what's now the eastern United States for nearly four centuries) and ease of travel. Others may find different advantages, and some, of course, will find none.

 

[richforsyth]

Aren't we writing about two distinct ethnai, Slovak (Slovakia, Bratislava) and Czech (Czech Republic, Prague)?

In fact yes, but they are so similar that in this case it's possible to clump them together and make sweeping generalisations
Truthfully though I've been to Slovakia a few times, and there are enough of the Slovak ladies in Prague to give me the overall impression that, mas o menos, Slovak girls actually win over Czechs in the 'best potential mate' category.

Having said that I've never dated one, so perhaps this is where my experience lacks some credibility. Plus thinking back to my ex-housemate (who was Slovak, and psychotic), it's probably best I stop airing my views.

They really are great looking though....

 

[RWS]

Interesting, Rich. I've long had the impression that the Czechs were so strongly
German-influenced that they were perhaps the most Western of all Slavs (the sole challengers for that distinction might have been the German- and Italian-influenced Slovenes and Croats), while the Slovaks, as most Slavs, look to or at least are more strongly influenced by Russia. My superficial acquaintance (never having lived there) with the former Czechoslovakia seemed to bear that out, with Prague resembling Vienna or pre-war Leipzig and Bratislava looking like a pre-Soviet Polish or Russian provincial capital. But I do remember being reminded that Kafka and his . . . hmm . . . afflictions were typical of Bohemia and Moravia and would have been most exceptional in Slovakia, so I can understand your comments in that regard -- your ex-housemate notwithstanding!

 

[ghost]

This is probably not the reason for the action taken but I've heard that US tax laws are one of the most strict in the world, I could be wrong but I thought I heard that as a US citizen,
that if you fail to lodge your tax return on time & you are overseas, that you could be arrested as soon as you land back in US soil. Apparently some US citizens have been handcuffed on arrival after being away overseas for years without being aware of the crime committed. Is this true?

The tax laws are not so bad as you state and I seriously doubt if someone was arresed for Not Filing their tax returns. However if they filied them fraudulenly , then the story might change.

 

[BillfromNYC]

What is laughable for me is that he cannot find any country in the world that he want to be a citizen of. He looked around the world and cannot find any better?

It is like a person saying he is going to give up eating food because of all the evils in the world to manufacture food but he has nothing to replace the food with.

Bill