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Originally Posted by slapass
did you have to cut ties to the US or are you still a Us citizen?
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Hi slapass! Na.. I've never been a US citizen :-)
I still have citizenship of my country of birth and others I know of have... up to three "citizenships" or dual and triple nationalities :-) Eg.. Canada, EU and where they live offshore and come and go as they please.
The people from the US I know of have not, least the most of em, have not given up citizenship in the US. The only difference is they just live abroad and collect some allowance on their US tax return for doing so - around $70K-$80K.
There are some rules in the US, same as most countries, to establish foreign residency - tho you'd have to check this, but usually means not *actually* still living or maintaining a home there etc, but under certain conditions that may be possible to eg.. retain a home and rent it out and pay whatever taxes are due on this.
The main problem is US citizens have to submit revenue returns no matter where they are in the world. (This is the exception and not normal with other countries.) And... when it comes to "offshore" there is space on IRS tax forms where questions are asked :-) If these are answered "inaccurately", it is an offense in the US. The questions lead to what assets/revenue have been received from foreign activities - and this screws up the concept of offshore.
Oddly, the US people I know always seem to earn a dollar less than the actual allowances ie - if the allowance for foreign residency is $82K, they earn $81,999 :-) But, I don't know how this works at the US end - presume it must be useful.
I can't say specifically for the US, but it is normal to, eg... agree to be not living in your home country more than X weeks a year, else you may be subject to taxation. But, I've never found that a problem and visit family and friends, but then get the hell out to better places :-) Most friends want to visit anyway and have a holiday - ya can't get rid of em!!
And a fair number have or are moving out once they saw the overall picture.
It's not just about taxes and money.. the lifestyle is better! I asked a US lawyer - what made him move with his wife and two children and mentioned that he is not gonna earn the same money as a lawyer than he did back in the US. His reasons were mainly because of his younger children and the lifestyle. He quoted some crime stats back home. On the money side, tho he would not earn as much, - in real terms he was better off because of the lower cost of living and little or no taxation. Each has their own priorities :-) But.. lawyers still earn good money - Mine ran out of wall space for works of art in his home and now plasters his office walls with art worth a few million:-) It's all relative :-)