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04:05:12
If the property is a U.S. passport for the curse
The U.S. is the only country to tax its citizens in the world, regardless of where they live. Therefore, more and more U.S. citizens fleeing their Exchequer of self-expatriation – against extra taxes. The number of wealthy U.S. citizens who voluntarily give up their U.S. passport, has increased sevenfold over the past four years. This development has unleashed a wave of investigations into tax evaders by the tax authorities.
Approximately 1780 waived Americans abroad last year in U.S. embassies on their passports, while the figure was only in 2008, 235th These figures Andy Sundberg called the Overseas American Academy in Geneva.
He refers to data from the U.S. Federal Register, the official gazette of the United States. The Embassy in Berne transferee to work through the backlog of applications.
Paying taxes regardless of residence
The U.S. is the only country within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the tax its citizens wherever they live.
The recent efforts of the United States , secret accounts abroad to get wise that can reflect more than six million Americans living abroad, whether holding a U.S. passport is worthwhile financially.
“It all went with the aftermath of the UBS and other non-US banks, who felt it as soon as too risky to have to do with Americans abroad,” said Matthew Ledvina, an American tax lawyer in Zurich. In 2009, Washington had accused UBS, U.S. customers tax help. Against the payment of 780 million dollars was the industry leader avoid prosecution. UBS also had to acknowledge that we have supported tax evasion. The data on 4,700 accounts were made available to U.S. investigators.
Investigations against Credite Suisse
On 15 July 2011, Credit Suisse said that she was the subject of criminal investigations, which are going to cross-border private banking services. Six days later, charges against seven former and current employees of the bank was raised.
They should be part of a conspiracy was with the goal of helping U.S. clients with secret accounts in tax evasion. Wegelin & Co., the Swiss private bank in St. Gallen was, finally, the first Swiss bank, against which, in February, in the U.S. criminal charges were filed.
The number of people who give in Switzerland on their U.S. citizenship, is higher than elsewhere. That says Martin Naville, the director of the Swiss-American Chamber of Commerce in Zurich. After the UBS case and the investigation by U.S. authorities at eleven other Swiss financial service providers would expect Americans living in Switzerland with very strict investigation of the Treasury.
Return of the passport is easy
During a ten-minute ceremony for the delivery of U.S. citizenship in a booth with bullet-proof glass of the U.S. Embassy staff ask the applicant if they submit their passports and truly voluntary and that they understand the consequences of this decision.
If everything goes smoothly, the applicant pay a fee of 450 dollars – and are now not citizens of the United States of America more. In addition, they may also need an “exit tax” paid on unrealized capital gains. That is, if their assets exceed the sum of two million dollars or its average annual tax liability in the U.S. in the past five years exceeded $ 151,000.
In the end, given the ex-US citizens with a certificate. It confirms that they are no longer citizens of the country and no longer use the services of the state and enjoy the protection provided by the American government.
The American Embassy in Bern wanted to demand from Bloomberg News to give an opinion on the subject. A spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department in Washington said that her house did not publish any exact dates. She said only that deliver “on average” about 1,100 people their American citizenship.
Switzerland has issued arrest warrants against three tax officials from North Rhine-Westphalia. In February 2010 they should have bought a CD with data from German bank customers to track down tax evaders.
Bloomberg
Posted on May 4, 2012
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