Why do I gotta be Mr. Pink?
'Cause you’re a Forumosan, that’s why.
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I get your point, but…
Quick reply now, more in depth later.
Isn’t going overseas to work voluntary? Isn’t starting a business overseas, also voluntary? You know the rules going in. Starting a business overseas? Isn’t the whole idea of the people you want to get rid of taxes for expats, to invest in America? Isn’t that 45 et al’s plan?
Back to my point, you know the rules going in. This is akin to those who say the whole same-sex marriage rulings are killing their right to own a business. Which is nonsense. They have the right to own a business. You have the right to go overseas. They do not have a responsibility. Neither do you. Now, if it was required by government to spend one year working overseas, then you could really have an argument. Otherwise, again, you know rules going in.
I will deal with the rest later. Gotta work.
I get that you were rushed, but I really don’t understand the logic of your argument. I mean, you’re right that these are the rules, and I comply with the rules – including FATCA, which is the target of my current rant – because I like not being in jail.
But in a representative democracy, citizens have the right to protest against dumb laws like FATCA. If your “those are the rules” argument holds water, then we should accept all of the government’s rules and recuse ourselves from the policy making process. I mean, it’s like saying that nobody forced you not to give up your citizenship and move to Canada when Trump got elected, so stop complaining about all of his endless dipshittery.
You have stated that all of your income is non-taxable because of the foreign earned income exemption, but this can only be true if you have no bank interest income (which IS taxable) and have never taught private lessons (the income from which would be subject to self-employment tax even though it was earned in Taiwan, if it is above a certain very low threshold in any given tax-year). Maybe you never taught privates, but I can’t believe that you never had a penny of interest income from an offshore (e.g., Taiwanese) bank account.
Anyway, I’m not trying to personalize this, and please don’t discuss your taxes online with some unknown muppet like me. I’m just guessing that you simply didn’t know that unearned income and income from self-employment are not covered by the FEIE exemption. If true, there would be no shame in that. I find out shit about US personal taxes that I didn’t know every time I file. To your point that “you knew the rules”, well, no I didn’t. Even Enrolled Agents and tax-focused CPAs don’t know the rules embedded in the tens (or is it hundreds?) of thousands of pages that comprise the Federal tax code. You are defending an Orwellian abomination when you step up to bat for the US tax regime.
I only point this out to illustrate what a clusterfuck the tax code is, both for expatriates and non-expatriates alike. I don’t mean that as a straw man – I acknowledge your point that I knew about the rule regarding global taxation, or maybe I didn’t know when I got on the plane but I figured it out quickly enough. But I sure as hell didn’t know the rule regarding FATCA when I left the states. FATCA was only passed in 2010, and is not some longstanding tradition of US governance.
This is a separate argument from citizenship-based global taxation, although obviously they are related.
I do not teach privately and there is rarely enough in the bank account to collect interest. I think the most I ever reported on the 1040 was, I think, US$6.
I am not arguing, and I even agree that the tax regs in the US are unreasonable complicated, and there is absolutely no reason we need to file at all, since the IRS already has all our information, or most of it. I earlier addressed the reason we have to file and the reason it is horrible complicated. Capitalism. An entire cottage industry has sprung up to help people navigate this endless stream of tape and paperwork. And they make good money doing it, and they lobby hard. As such, it is even illegal for congress to oversimplify, or even eliminate the current tax situation. You know how to use the Google. Trust in yourself. The reason it got this is way is the very people who say they will slash it, put it in there in the first place.
FACTA had its head in the right place, to prevent billionaires and corporations from hiding monies in offshore accounts. Which brings me to…
OK, if you don’t like it, you have all rights to argue for change. I will not argue with that, and I support that. However, if you are a citizen of a nation and you enjoy all benefits, seen and otherwise of that citizenship, then you should maybe pitch in a little for that privilege. Unless you are one of those who enjoy all the rights and benefits of a marriage, without actually being married.
200 dollars to renew a us passport? Serious. Ten years ago I believe it was thirty. Are you truly serious? I have 4 american/Taiwanese kids. I can’t afford that. I let their passports lapse. THey don’t need it now.
It’s actually 110 dollars, but it’s still way too expensive.
I see. But you must understand that the regulation’s abbreviation is not “FACTA” but rather “FATCA”, which signifies that its intended targets are the Rich (i.e., the “FAT CAts”). This regulation was embedded in the Incentives to Restore Employment Act of 2010 – the HIRE Act. Who would be against that, right?
There’s something in there about stopping terrorism too. Again, who would disagree?
What has been the result of this law? Economic equality and less terrorism?
Have you not read Orwell?