Why did the number of abandoned Americans increase for four consecutive years?

Compared with more than one million legal immigrants and 1 1 10,000 undocumented immigrants, more than 5,000 citizens in the "land of opportunity" in the United States still give up their nationality every year and immigrate to pursue "foreign dreams". The United States "World Journal" 654381October 9 reported that the abandonment rate of Americans has increased steadily for at least four consecutive years. The reason is mostly related to the citizen-based tax system in the United States.

The latest data released by the U.S. Treasury in the Federal Gazette every quarter shows that as of June 30, 20 17, another 10758 people gave up their American citizenship, which is a quarter after the fourth quarter of 20 16.

In last year's general election, there was a joke that "if Trump is elected, I will immigrate". In fact, thousands of citizens in the United States give up their nationality every year, which has little to do with Trump's election as president. Experts point out that the vast majority of Americans immigrate because of the American tax system. The basis of tax collection in the United States is citizens, which means that Americans have to pay taxes to the US government even if they live abroad. In other countries, taxes are based on residents.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) passed during the Obama administration is called "Fat Coffee" because of its homonym. This clause requires foreign financial institutions to cooperate to provide account and asset information of American citizens and green card holders with personal assets of 50 thousand US dollars; Require foreign banks to detain the assets of American citizens, or turn over 30% of the income from American citizens' bank accounts to the IRS. This restriction has caused many foreign banks to stop serving Americans abroad, but at present, nearly 100 countries or sovereign regions have agreements with the United States to collect and provide information of American taxpayers to the IRS according to the "fat coffee" clause.

The influence of the "fat coffee" clause goes far beyond the rich, and the American middle class living overseas is also affected. Many people lost their real estate, business and personal bank accounts, while others lost their livelihoods. Strict overseas tax laws have greatly increased the number of people who give up their legal residence status and nationality in the United States. Since 20 10 "fat coffee" clause was passed, the number of people who gave up American citizenship has increased year by year. From less than 1000 people per year, it has increased to thousands, with an average annual growth rate of 23.4%, setting a new high for the number of people who abandoned the United States for many years. 2016 * * * 541/kloc-0 gave up being an American, which was 26% higher than that in 20 15 and 58% higher than that in 20 14.

In addition to the tax system, some people give up being Americans because of family, business opportunities, religious beliefs, health and welfare, exploring new cultures, evading legal responsibilities and other reasons. At the same time, the cost of renouncing nationality soared by 422% from 450 yuan to 2,350 yuan, which made many Americans abroad even more disheartened.

According to the data of the Immigration Policy Institute, the order of American emigration to other countries is Mexico, Canada, Britain, Germany, Australia, Israel, South Korea and Japan.