[quote=earlyretirement][quote=Jazzman][quote=earlyretirement]I know this isn’t applicable to the OP as you aren’t an ex-pat but I thought this would still be interesting to post.
IRS filing for US expats is antiquated, which is why so many Americans living abroad don’t bother with it. I’m sure the IRS would agree and welcome changes to the requirement. The allowance before you owe Uncle Sam tax is reasonably generous, and there is probably no requirement from your foreign employer abroad to provide the IRS with data, so you might be able to get away with filing your own returns. If leaving the US for good, watch out for the exit tax.[/quote]
I agree it’s antiquated. I guess you could complain but who would listen? Yes, the allowance as you mention (foreign earned income tax exclusion) is quite good. $97,600 for a single person or you can legally structure it if you are married and own your own business to double that to $195,200 if you get 2 salaries for you and your spouse.
I lived abroad for many years but I’d never leave the USA for good…. we have it too good here compared to other countries.[/quote]
Living abroad broadens one’s horizons, and can make you see your home country in a different light. I’ve lived in the US for ten years and in other countries for shorter periods. That has lead to a curious unraveling. I tend to see not so much countries, but enforced boundaries (borders if you will), often through wars, organized by a collective group bound by laws that a few so-called elected (or otherwise) individuals have drawn up. The US is a perfect case in point. A young country that imposed the rule of law and property rights on a land, previously without those structures. The US is a legal entity, with a cultural focus on business and the resulting life style. Certain freedoms are a part of that package, helping to inspire a love of one’s country, that the Founding Fathers knew was needed to glue together a multicultural society. You cannot love a country. That is an illusion.
The post war decades in the US seemed very much in keeping with the ethos of individualism, egalitarianism, and evenly spread prosperity. More recent events, however, seem to echo pre-WWII periods, which have eery parallels to much that was (is) wrong with Europe, the wellspring of earlier American historical development. Whether you believe social thinking evolves or not, old models that were once the backbone of a society can erode bringing with it change that breeds conflict and social unrest. Perhaps, the only thing that keeps mankind on his toes is the certainty of uncertainty.
Sometimes I feel the only thing keeping me here is the tax climate, and the Hawaiian climate:) Like you, I would never give up my (non-US) passport, but that is as as much for sentimental reasons. The Bush tax cuts could of course be reversed, and if health care costs increase as is widely anticipated, that could be the tipping point. The lack of investment opportunities seems universal, but when all said and done, you go with where your spirit and wallet feel the most comfortable. There is no “national” preference in my view, just survival.
