This feed is published daily with selected new or updated
content from across our network. For a list of network sites, many of
which feature daily news, see below.
Providing essential tax news and information for globally
mobile artists, contractors, entrepreneurs, professionals, small businesses,
sportspersons and entertainers.
Lowtax Network Sites
Lowtax Network Portal:
'Low-tax' business and investment in the top 50 jurisdictions covered in
exceptional detail.
Tax News: Global
tax news, continuously updated through the day.
Law & Tax
News: Daily news and background data on tax and legal developments
for international business.
Offshore-e-com:
A topical guide to offshore e-commerce focused on tax and regulation.
Lowtax Library:
One of the web's largest and most authoritative business and investment
information sources.
US Tax Network:
The resource for free online US taxation information, covering: corporate
tax, individual tax, international tax, expatriates, sales and e-commerce
tax, investment tax.
NEW! Personal
Business Tax Guide: Providing essential tax news and information
on business for contractors, entrepreneurs, professionals, small businesses,
artists, sportspersons and entertainers.
Expats Turn Backs On US Taxes,
by Mike Godfrey, Tax-News.com, Washington
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Increasing numbers of Americans are taking the dramatic step of renouncing
their citizenship in order to escape Uncle Sam's all-encompassing tax net.
US citizens are in a uniquely horrible position as expatriates, wherever they
reside, since the US is just about the only major nation which taxes its citizens
regardless of their residential status, and legislation in recent years has
done nothing to improve the situation. And with the Obama administration determined
to pass ever-more draconian tax and reporting laws on wealthy individuals and
companies stationed offshore in an effort to narrow the federal deficit, estimated
at USD1 trillion this year, it seems that many otherwise patriotic Americans
are taking the hard-nosed financial choice to escape the clutches of the man
from the IRS.
"I run into people like this quite often as part of my travels,"
observed Daniel J. Mitchell of the Washington-based think tank, the Cato Institute.
"They are intensely patriotic to America as a nation, but they have lots
of scorn for the federal government."
In the fourth quarter of 2009, 502 US expats renounced their citizenship. This
may seem like a drop in the ocean relative to America's total population and
the thousands of US expats spread across all quarters of the world, but it was
double the number of expats who renounced citizenship in the same period a year
earlier. US government figures also indicate that the total number of Americans
handing back their passports in 2009 was three-times higher than in 2008, and
these headline figures hide the fact that many more hundreds of applications
are pending in various US embassies around the world. Indeed, it is said that
there is a large backlog of applications pending at the US embassy in London,
with some applicants not likely to have their cases dealt with until early next
year.
"Even relatively high-tax nations such as the United Kingdom are attractive
compared to the class-warfare system that Obama is creating in the United States,"
observes Mitchell in his blog.
While the Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act (TIPRA), signed by
President Bush in May 2006 increased the amount that can be earned free from
US taxes by an expatriate (currently USD91,400) income earned by expats above
this threshold is now typically subject to higher tax rates. Furthermore, high
housing costs, much of which previously could be excluded from the computation
of US tax, are now treated as a taxable benefit, making many individuals worse
off, or leaving the employer to pick up the extra bill. A substantial number
of US expats were said to have decided to return home as a result.
But more recent legislation has been passed to make it even harder for expatriating
Americans. The Heroes Earnings Assistance and Relief Tax Act of 2008 (The 'HEART
Act'), which was primarily intended to offer tax breaks to military personnel
working abroad, also introduced penal new rules applying to expatriates, as
well as addressing some other perceived offshore abuses.
Under the HEART Act, individuals terminating their citizenship are treated
as having disposed of all of their property at fair market value on the day
before they expatriate or terminate their residence.
However, as Mitchell points out, ultimately, the tax exiles get the last laugh
"since the bureaucrats and politicians now get zero percent of their foreign-source
income."
One of the web's largest and
most authoritative business and investment information sources. Alongside
topical, daily news on worldwide
tax developments, you can receive weekly newswires or
access up-to-date intelligence
reports on a range of legal, tax and investment subjects.
Our 16 constantly updated
intelligence reports cover every important aspect of 'offshore' and international
tax-planning in depth, including banking secrecy, the EU's savings tax
directive, offshore funds, e-commerce, offshore gaming and transfer pricing.
Reports are available for immediate downloading or as subscription
services with news pages.
Advertising & Marketing
With over 50,000 qualified readers every month our web-sites
offer a number of cost effective, targeted advertising,
sponsorship and marketing opportunities:
Display advertising - from 'skyscrapers' to 'buttons'
Content/article submission and sponsorship
Opt-in email marketing
On-line Services Directory listings
Could your corporate web-site or newsletter benefit
from incorporating regularly updated news and content
tailored to serve your clients' interests? We can provide
a variety of maintenance-free news and content solutions
that can be seamlessly integrated and dynamically delivered:
Click here for a brief introduction
to RSS and instructions on how to get the Tax-News feed.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: THE LOWTAX NETWORK
has taken reasonable care in sourcing and presenting the information contained
on this site, but accepts no responsibility for any financial or other loss
or damage that may result from its use. In particular, users of the site are
advised to take appropriate professional advice before committing themselves
to involvement in offshore jurisdictions, offshore trusts or offshore investments.
All materials on this site copyright THE LOWTAX NETWORK 1999 to 2010.
All content on this site
has been provided by BSIRN.
TAX-NEWS.COM
13/07 
Free Tax-News Feed