More Americans than ever renounced their citizenships this year, reports the Internal Revenue Service, but the government still collected money from them.
IRS Data published in the
Federal Register this week showed a total of 3,221 Americans expatriated so far this year, with 1,426 cutting ties in this quarter alone, reports
The Washington Examiner.
The number is 25 percent higher than during the same period last year, when 2,585 gave up their citizenship.
But it costs money to leave the United States.
To renounce citizenship, one must now pay an administrative processing fee of $2,350, up from $450 last year. This means the feds have earned, to date, $7.5 million from people who are leaving the country.
This quarterly record was the second one broken in 2015, with the other record, of 1,336 people renouncing their citizenship, being set in the first quarter of this year. The IRS has been collecting such data since 1996 through the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act.
The migration could be a result of family, tax and legal issues, according to
Forbes. Dual citizenship is not always allowed, and many are finding that it is expensive and difficult to be an expatriate.
Americans living abroad must report and pay taxes where they live, but they also have to pay taxes in the United States, and even though many claim a foreign tax credit on their returns, not all double taxes are eliminated.
Forbes reports annual foreign bank account reports, or
FBARs, can carry civil and criminal penalties, which can eat away at bank account balances.
In addition, it is often difficult for ex-pats to find foreign banks who are willing to deal with Americans and the IRS, which can cause difficulties for American citizens living overseas.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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