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A record 1,426 Americans renounce U.S. citizenship

(People's Daily Online)    08:33, November 04, 2015
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A record 1,426 Americans renounce U.S. citizenship
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1,426. That’s the number of Americans who renounced their U.S. citizenship last quarter according to the U.S. government’s report released recently.

So far this year, the number of Americans who have renounced their citizenship has reached 3,221, with great possibility of breaking the record of a total of 3,415 made last year.

According to the CNN's report, an increasing number of Americans are bidding Uncle Sam farewell. Many are expats tired of dealing with complicated tax paperwork -- a headache that has increased lately as hefty tax regulations have kicked in. Last year, 15 times more Americans renounced their citizenship than in 2008.

CNN believes for the vast majority of people who renounce their U.S. citizenship, it ultimately comes down to a single issue: taxes. Unlike most countries, the U.S. taxes citizens on all income -- no matter where it's earned, or where they live. For Americans living abroad, that means a mountain of paperwork so complex that expats are often forced to seek professional help, paying high fees to accountants and lawyers.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA just signed by Barack Obama has made the situation even worse for overseas Americans. It requires individuals to report certain foreign assets, and for banks to disclose all foreign accounts held by Americans. The new law requires Americans to disclose foreign bank holdings above $10,000.

The campaign is making life difficult for the 7.6 million Americans living abroad. As financial institutions rush to understand FATCA, some overseas banks, both big and small, have closed the accounts of U.S. clients, leaving some without even basic checking and savings accounts, meaning some overseas Americans are forced to abandon their U.S. citizenship.

(For the latest China news, Please follow People's Daily on Twitter and Facebook)(Editor:Huang Jin,Liang Jun)

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