ouloveit1 (Jun 21 2010, 07:49 AM) said: > original post
So yes, I guess there are extreme circumstances where giving up your US passport would make sense .. but to give it just because you don't like it's foreign polices, you don't wanna pay taxes (which you are not paying anyway) or because the people are false and whatnot no - geesh, come on now - that just sounds lame.

I was hoping to get thoughtful responses from people who have, or who are considering, renouncing their citizenship....but I should have known that some folks would be more interested in trying to assert their superiority and explaining how much of a "patriotic american" they are etc.

I'm not interested in arguing with such folks. Suffice to say that what you think "makes sense" is your business not mine. I am sorry that you feel that that little blue book identifies who you are as a person, but again that is your business.

Maybe you do have a point about a country's foreign policies and their shallow population...those are not reasons at all to want to disassociate yourself from it.

Anyone else have anything helpful to say...other than examples of abusive Dutch husbands and AIDS victims?

bubbba (Jun 21 2010, 05:51 AM) said: > original post
Here's how it currently works: If you earn more than $139,000 per year, or if you're worth more than 2 million bucks, or if you "fail to certify on Form 8854 that you have complied with all U.S. federal tax obligations for the 5 years preceding the date of your expatriation or termination of residency", and you're trying to renounce your citizenship, then Uncle Sugar assumes you could only be renouncing in order to avoid taxes. Sam Gibbons, the Florida Democrat who helped pass the legislation to make this possible said it was meant to punish "the despicable act of renouncing ... allegiance to the United States."

If you fall under these financial guidelines, failure to file form 8854 means a $10,000 fine, lifetime banishment from entering the US (yep: no-fly list!), blacklisting you in the Federal Registry, and taxing your projected US earnings for the next ten years after renouncing.

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/intern...d=97245,00.html

http://www.debito.org/naturalization2.html

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the links, they actually are a big help indeed.

ldyparadox99 (Jun 20 2010, 09:45 PM) said: > original post
Even after giving up your citizenship, you will still be required to file taxes with the IRL for years.

Well even if that is true, and I have seen no proof that it is, they can "require" all they want. If they got little attention from me as a citizen how much attention do you think I will pay them as a non citizen....

ratkat (Jun 20 2010, 07:45 PM) said: > original post
And even thought I've lived here 12 years, The Netherlands has never made me really feel so welcome that it feels like home..

I feel you on that one...have to weigh all of your options.

bubbba (Jun 20 2010, 03:16 PM) said: > original post
Interesting article just last week in the Wall Street Journal concerning new reasons to renounce: namely an Obama directive that forces foreign banks to report all deposits from American citizens greater than $50,000. Solution: renounce US Citizenship. Thanks again, O.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405...IDDLEFourthNews

And the hits keep coming...