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anyone regretted becoming a us citizen

anyone regretted becoming a us citizen

Old Nov 27th 2006, 11:37 pm
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Default anyone regretted becoming a us citizen

has anyone become a citizen and regretted it. I am thinking mainly financially since that is the only real negative I can imagine in being a us citizen. At least with a green card I can just decide to not pay taxes and give up the green card. If I become a citizen I have to pay us taxes for life!
Is the tax ting an actual burden if I were to move back to live and work in the UK say for 10 years. I know the two countries have a tax agreement. Does it only really affect you if you have say property or business interests in the US. Presumably because the UK income tax rate is higher you would never actualyl need to pay tax to the US, just file it each year? Unless you have a lot of cash lying around the world..
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Old Nov 28th 2006, 12:38 am
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Default Re: anyone regretted becoming a us citizen

Originally Posted by angelman
has anyone become a citizen and regretted it. I am thinking mainly financially since that is the only real negative I can imagine in being a us citizen. At least with a green card I can just decide to not pay taxes and give up the green card. If I become a citizen I have to pay us taxes for life!
Is the tax ting an actual burden if I were to move back to live and work in the UK say for 10 years. I know the two countries have a tax agreement. Does it only really affect you if you have say property or business interests in the US. Presumably because the UK income tax rate is higher you would never actualyl need to pay tax to the US, just file it each year? Unless you have a lot of cash lying around the world..
Please read this:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/...164371,00.html

Some of your comments are confusing and not entirely accurate.

A US Permanent Resident (aka Green Card holder) will always have to file a US tax return, even if he/she owes nothing to the IRS.


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Old Nov 28th 2006, 12:44 am
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Default Re: anyone regretted becoming a us citizen

Originally Posted by NC Penguin
A US Permanent Resident (aka Green Card holder) will always have to file a US tax return, even if he/she owes nothing to the IRS.
Not if you leave the country and cease to be a PR which I think is the OP's point.
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Old Nov 28th 2006, 12:51 am
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Default Re: anyone regretted becoming a us citizen

sorry if it wasnt clear.. I meant that the difference with a green card is that I can always give it up and stop filing taxes eventually. Whereas with citizenship I cant really give that up can I? Or at least if I did it would be much harder to get it again...

Originally Posted by NC Penguin
Please read this:
http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/...164371,00.html

Some of your comments are confusing and not entirely accurate.

A US Permanent Resident (aka Green Card holder) will always have to file a US tax return, even if he/she owes nothing to the IRS.


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Old Nov 28th 2006, 12:52 am
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Default Re: anyone regretted becoming a us citizen

Originally Posted by angelman
sorry if it wasnt clear.. I meant that the difference with a green card is that I can always give it up and stop filing taxes eventually. Whereas with citizenship I cant really give that up can I? Or at least if I did it would be much harder to get it again...
Just because you have to file doesn't mean that you actually have to pay anything
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Old Nov 28th 2006, 1:04 am
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Default Re: anyone regretted becoming a us citizen

Originally Posted by BigDavyG
Just because you have to file doesn't mean that you actually have to pay anything
We get money back every year...

When hubby lived in France in 1995, we moved to the US in late November, and the government gave him money back for staying away for over half the year. LOL!
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Old Nov 28th 2006, 1:54 am
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Default Re: anyone regretted becoming a us citizen

Originally Posted by angelman
... Whereas with citizenship I cant really give that up can I? Or at least if I did it would be much harder to get it again...
You could give up US citizenship, but doing so for tax purposes puts a permanent bar from ever entering the US again.

Having US citizen has other financial advantages though, any inheritance you receive won't be taxed to buggery for instance, handy if your married to a septic.

The reciprocal tax agreement means each person in a marriage gets $80K each, or total of $160K a year tax free between the two of you if you move back to blighty, so unless your earning serious cash, it won't be an issue....it only really becomes an issue if you move to a tax free state like DXB, KSA etc...
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Old Nov 28th 2006, 2:02 am
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Default Re: anyone regretted becoming a us citizen

Quite frankly, the US isn't that big a stickler for filing income taxes (edit to add in the UK), unless you're making some kind of big money. I didn't file all the time I lived over there (with exception of when we filed for my husband's visa to move to the US) And then it was just filling out a bunch of paperwork......they didn't take my husband's income into account and I made diddly squat.... Never had any problems because I didn't file in a timely manner.

Last edited by AmerLisa; Nov 28th 2006 at 3:26 am.
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Old Nov 28th 2006, 3:10 am
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Default Re: anyone regretted becoming a us citizen

Originally Posted by Maz
We get money back every year...
You mean you're giving the US government an interest-free loan every year There should be a law against that...
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Old Nov 28th 2006, 3:15 am
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Default Re: anyone regretted becoming a us citizen

Originally Posted by Bob
You could give up US citizenship, but doing so for tax purposes puts a permanent bar from ever entering the US again.
How would they prove it was for "tax purposes" though? Unless you were significantly wealthy and renouncing citizenship would save you $$$s down the road, I don't see how this could be proven.

Originally Posted by Bob
Having US citizen has other financial advantages though, any inheritance you receive won't be taxed to buggery for instance, handy if your married to a septic.
One of the reasons I became a citizen... but with the threshhold at which inheritnace tax kicks in rising significantly over the past few years, again, it's probably not an issue for most at the moment.

Originally Posted by Bob
The reciprocal tax agreement means each person in a marriage gets $80K each, or total of $160K a year tax free between the two of you if you move back to blighty, so unless your earning serious cash, it won't be an issue....it only really becomes an issue if you move to a tax free state like DXB, KSA etc...
It's likely to be an issue if you have significant non-wage income.
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Old Nov 28th 2006, 3:16 am
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Default Re: anyone regretted becoming a us citizen

Originally Posted by angelman
sorry if it wasnt clear.. I meant that the difference with a green card is that I can always give it up and stop filing taxes eventually. Whereas with citizenship I cant really give that up can I? Or at least if I did it would be much harder to get it again...
I don't quite understand your concern about filing US taxes. There are software packages that allow you to plug in your numbers to create a tax return and if you're earning a lot of money, then you should consider getting an accountant to do your taxes and get a tax advisor on how best to save your money/lower your taxes.


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Old Nov 28th 2006, 3:40 am
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Default Re: anyone regretted becoming a us citizen

its not about the practicailty of doing the taxes though it is a pain in the arse even with the software.. just keeping track of all the info etc.
its about whether I actually would lose out financially. I say this because a co worker went through this and was rather shocked to find she was paying quite a bit to the US. Sure she was on a pretty significant wage, certainly way above the 80K threshold.
Our combined income if we moved to the UK would probably end up being above the 160K especially with the way the dollar is going down the drain (soon everyone will be hitting that threshold if they have a job in the UK!).
By the time I become a citizen its likely I would have a property in both the US and the UK one of which I would be renting out most probably.
I just wondered if anyone had been hit financially in any serious way by becoming a citizen.

Originally Posted by NC Penguin
I don't quite understand your concern about filing US taxes. There are software packages that allow you to plug in your numbers to create a tax return and if you're earning a lot of money, then you should consider getting an accountant to do your taxes and get a tax advisor on how best to save your money/lower your taxes.


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Old Nov 28th 2006, 4:15 am
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Default Re: anyone regretted becoming a us citizen

Originally Posted by Giantaxe
How would they prove it was for "tax purposes" though? Unless you were significantly wealthy and renouncing citizenship would save you $$$s down the road, I don't see how this could be proven.
I wouldn't have a clue, but it's all scribbled down somewhere in deep depths of USCIS, somewhere *l*
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Old Nov 28th 2006, 4:21 am
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Default Re: anyone regretted becoming a us citizen

Originally Posted by Bob
I wouldn't have a clue, but it's all scribbled down somewhere in deep depths of USCIS, somewhere *l*
IRS actually:
http://www.irs.gov/instructions/i8854/ch01.html

Renouncing US citizenship may cause a problem with Social Security later on. Plus the not-so-small matter of being unable to return to the US or get a US passport should you change your mind later on (many people do).
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Old Nov 28th 2006, 4:30 am
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Default Re: anyone regretted becoming a us citizen

Originally Posted by angelman
its not about the practicailty of doing the taxes though it is a pain in the arse even with the software.. just keeping track of all the info etc.
its about whether I actually would lose out financially. I say this because a co worker went through this and was rather shocked to find she was paying quite a bit to the US. Sure she was on a pretty significant wage, certainly way above the 80K threshold.
Our combined income if we moved to the UK would probably end up being above the 160K especially with the way the dollar is going down the drain (soon everyone will be hitting that threshold if they have a job in the UK!).
By the time I become a citizen its likely I would have a property in both the US and the UK one of which I would be renting out most probably.
I just wondered if anyone had been hit financially in any serious way by becoming a citizen.
If you have a rental property in the US you will have to file a US tax return anyway, although obviously this would entail less record keeping than having to file a return that included wage income.

It's at least theoretically possible that you will end up more heavily taxed if you are a US citizen, because that leaves you open to the possibility that some aspect(s) of your worldwide income are taxed more heavily by the US than by the UK (or whatever other country you earn income/interest/capital gains in). Also, do a search on why being a US citizen really hurts you in respect to UK Unit Trusts and some other UK investments as well. However, specifically in regards to wage income it's unlikely, because US federal tax rates tend to be lower than their UK counterparts and you will presumably not owe any state tax (except perhaps in the year you move).

The question I would ask is why you want to become a US citizen if you intend to go back to the UK? Is this a case of hedging your bets if it turns out you subsequently want to come back to live in the US again?

Last edited by Giantaxe; Nov 28th 2006 at 4:34 am.
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