There is a phenomenon known as Accidental American Citizenship. It refers to people under a variety of circumstances, including those born here as babies, who’ve lived somewhere else for the majority of their lives.
But just because a citizen hasn’t lived in America for decades doesn’t absolve them of their requirement to file and pay US Income Taxes. This became ever more apparent back in 2010 with the enforcement of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA).
This law required foreign banks to report assets held by American Citizens to the IRS. In other cases, it led banks to refuse providing services and accounts to these citizens given the increased costs of compliance. Many of these individuals have complained about an inability to get a mortgages or insurance on property.
The fee to ditch one’s American Citizenship is $2,350. It also requires a lot of paperwork and a hearing at the State Department.
But the department, now facing a lawsuit, has announced that it will lower the fee to $450. This has caused a major uptick in interest from ex-pats considering a change in their citizenship.
The main reason many have for this consideration is no longer being forced to file and pay US Income Taxes. A recent survey from Greenback showed that 33% of all Americans living abroad have considered ending their citizenship given the tax burdens.
But renouncing one’s citizenship is a major change. We’ll see how many actually go through with it, once the fee has been lowered.
Let me leave you with this…
A recent study by Wallethub, ranked 148 of America’s largest cities based on financial stability, health, education, economy, safety, pollution, and infrastructure. I’m sure the following factoid is no surprise to many.
Chicago ranked 137th out of 148.
San Francisco came in dead last. Larger cities considered even worse than Chicago include New York, Los Angeles, and Detroit. Nampa, Idaho (has anyone even heard of this city before) was ranked first.
In order to compile the rankings, Wallethub used public information from various sources including but not limited to the US Census Bureau, The Bureau of Labor Statistics, and County Health Rankings.
But anyone living here could have saved them a lot of time and trouble.
Being a life-long Chicagoan is all about enjoying the good, and ignoring the bad. This has always been the thing that outsiders never seem to understand.
Unlike other places, in the same frame, we see the very best and the very worst that civilization has to offer.
We go downtown and see the Art Institute with homeless people begging in front of the lions. People go on a Chicago River Architectural Tour seeing the grandest buildings built in the last century right next to graffiti. Tourists make the mistake of enjoying the Riverwalk later at night when they run a higher risk of getting mugged.
The thing about Chicago is that its a city of contrast. The worst that life can offer is here right next to the best. In order to be a Chicagoan, one must have a filter, only paying attention to the best.
I’ve often wondered what old Boss Daley would think of the city that, in many ways, he created. He had his issues. Of that there’s no question.
But most don’t remember a town where Mothers didn’t worry about their kids. As long as we were home by the time the street lights came on, no one even asked where we’d been.
Chicago was a place where no one worried about getting a job or being able to pay their bills. Jobs were plentiful because the city was growing.
He built things like O’Hare, McCormick Place, and the Sears Tower. Without his contributions, no one would recognize this town.
And fifty years later, here we are near the bottom of the list.
Time will tell where all of this is heading. We can only hope for the best.
We’re all going to get through this. Let’s get through it together.
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