Throughout the first quarter of 2015, about 1,337 Americans gave up their citizenship compared to only 231 in all of 2008.
2014 saw a record number of people turn their backs on the U.S.A with 3,415 doing so, and 2015 could set a new record.
But, why are Americans deciding to officially not be part of the land of the free? For many, they’ve simply had enough of the government’s tax burden. Technically, Americans can’t renounce their passports to dodge taxes, so they have to cite other reasons.
But, the United States is one of the few countries that taxes income from abroad and it already has what critics are calling the most complicated tax code in the world.
The foreign account tax compliance act alone has increased the reporting requirements of Americans living abroad. That’s around 7.6 million people.
