Officially. And, that number (while still small) is growing in a marked way. [A black man is applying for refugee status in Canada becasue of police misconduct. Seriously.] Many, many more Americans officially renounce their U.S. citizenship each year than leave the United States and ask for political asylum.
It’s been said before. In fact, if you run in the right circles, you might have heard someone say it during one of the two presidential primary debates.”If [INSERT CANDIDATE NAME] wins this election, I’m leaving the country/moving to Canada.”
While digging into the facts behind another post on an American seeking political asylum in Canada for a different but nonetheless significant set of reasons, The Fix came across some new data released by the federal government last week that tells a slightly different tale.
There are some Americans who, for what appear to be non-political but more likely financial reasons, really do disconnect from their home country. Officially. And, that number (while still small) is growing in a marked way.
[A black man is applying for refugee status in Canada becasue of police misconduct. Seriously.]
Many, many more Americans officially renounce their U.S. citizenship each year than leave the United States and ask for political asylum. In 2014, the first group was about 18 times larger than the later. All told, 3,415 Americans renounced their citizenship for what were likely financial reasons — a record figure. Just 188 citizens sought asylum in another country.
Source: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and U.S. Department of Treasury
How can we know that their reasons are more likely financial than political?
U.S. citizens living abroad are required to pay to the U.S. government taxes on their worldwide income. Most also have to pay taxes in the country where they live. And the U.S. government has become more aggressive in recent years in tracking the income of those living abroad and penalizing those who are less-than-honest. Hence, observers say, the number of people who are opting to renounce their citizenship and with it their tax obligations is climbing.
That’s not a an exaggeration. Check out the serious uptick in the two charts below.
The figure captured on the chart is a look at quarterly averages. And while the number of Americans renouncing their citizenship dropped significantly in the second quarter of this year, it picked back up in a big way in the just-released third-quarter numbers, setting a new record for a three-month span: 1,426.
Look at this data another way — annual figures for just the last few years — and the marked increase is even more evident. The number of Americans ditching their citizenship is already almost as high after three quarters of 2015 as in all of 2014.
The most recent list of those who have opted to become official expatriates was published last week. You can view the complete list of names — if that’s of interest — here. And names for previous quarters can be found here.
Since 2013, these individuals have been required to pay a $2,350 fee to process their official change in status. Yep. A fee.
Now, as for the Americans so dismayed — or, perhaps, endangered — by life in America that they have decided to begin a process that can lead to citizenship elsewhere, that number remains small. Very small. But of course, the 2016 election could produce new surprises.
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