> They’ve been allowed for decades to avoid paying for the infrastructure and management of the country while simultaneously holding most of the influence.
Maybe you didn't know this but Americans living overseas still have to file and pay US taxes, often getting double-taxed buy two different countries - and often by a higher tax country than the US.
In fact, the US is one of only two countries in the world with this arrangement. I'm an American living overseas and it's a bit of a logical nightmare dealing with all the requirements. Even opening a simple checking account is difficult now for Americans overseas.
Americans who haven't lived overseas or haven't traveled much often have difficulty empathizing. But when we were living in the US, I would have found it very strange if not absurd if my non-US born wife had to file and pay taxes to her country of birth.
> often getting double-taxed buy two different countries - and often by a higher tax country than the US.
If there's a tax treaty between the two countries, they're not going to be double taxed. They will simply pay tax at the higher-country-rate, and owe nothing to the other.
If there's no tax treaty ... I'm not familiar with how that works. The US has tax treaties with many countries around the world, especially the OECD nations.
I think gp was referring to how capital gains aren't taxed until realized. Having billions in unrealized gains gives you influence, even though you didn't yet pay tax on it.
However, when you relinquish your citizenship you pay an exit tax which is more or less equivalent to what you'd pay if you sold all your assets and paid gains taxes, so I'm not sure how this move really helps billionaires, except that they don't have to pay taxes on future gains.
Maybe you didn't know this but Americans living overseas still have to file and pay US taxes, often getting double-taxed buy two different countries - and often by a higher tax country than the US.
In fact, the US is one of only two countries in the world with this arrangement. I'm an American living overseas and it's a bit of a logical nightmare dealing with all the requirements. Even opening a simple checking account is difficult now for Americans overseas.
Americans who haven't lived overseas or haven't traveled much often have difficulty empathizing. But when we were living in the US, I would have found it very strange if not absurd if my non-US born wife had to file and pay taxes to her country of birth.