The Democrats Abroad have been fighting for this for MANY years. So who finally comes to help?
Of all the countries on this planet, there are two left that do not recognize residence-based taxation. That means their citizens abroad must file tax returns in both countries, and hope that the tax authorities in both countries operate under rules that eliminate double taxation. It sometimes works (with me it does not).
The two countries left that do NOT recognize residence-based taxation (RBT) are Eritrea and the United States of America. With the importance of business support staff, management, teachers, technicians, physicians, long-term students, or just Amweicans who married foreigners who feel better living in their own countries--plus a lot of etc., you'd think this would have addressed, after decades of pleas, long ago.Millions of Americans are subjected to excessive accountants' fees just to be in legal complaince with overlapping and contradicting rules in place in both countries.
One of the pronlems in getting the issue addressed has been deliberate mass ignorance in Congress. When I asked Sen. Brown (D-Ohio) how many Americans abroad he thought there were, he estimated 250,000 to 300,000. No wonder no one paid any attention to the issue. There are about NINE MILLION Americans living abroad. If we were a State, we'd be right in the middle, population-wise. 25th or 26th. I have heard the mocking comments about American "millyonayahs and billyonayahs living tax-free on yachts moored in Grand Cayman or Monte Carlo." For all I know, there might even be one or two. But even if there are, you can bet they can hire trouble-shooting accountants to protect them, and even so, that's less people than I have fingers on my left hand. There are nine million of the rest of us. Maybe we don't merit mention in some speech clip that will be shown on MSNBC, but we're here all the same.
Now, after all the many years of trying to get some relief from all the extra bureaucracy and accountants' fees, the Democrats Abroad finally have announed that someone in Congress has introduced a Residence-Based Taxation bill in Congress. If passed, not only would it put us on an even level with the rest of the world, it would ease the double filing burden for those millions of us that have had to live with it since the moment we had a foreign residence. Our politicians waste no time in asking us for money (RUSH a countribution!), pretty much constantly. But for the nine million os us Abroad, they make it pretty damned difficult to have that kind of money to spare. Because of unreconciled holes in the Double Taxation Treaty between Germany and the USA, I am double-taxed on much of my income, and am asked to pay about 73% in income taxes between Germany and the USA. I could live with the de-facto 50% rate the Germans impose, even knowing that I get ZERO of the benefits German taxpayers get back from their country. No health insurance or anything else. Just "give us your money and shut up." But, OK, I get to live with the amazing woman who married me, and that is worth every cent.
The one thing that floored me, though. After decades of making noise, the hundreds of thousands (over the years) contributed to Democrats and Democratic causes. Who finally finds the guts to take the initial step to ride to our rescue? Who finally, after all these years, introduces a bill introducing residence-based taxation?
https://www.democratsabroad.org/new_residency_based_tax_bill_introduced?utm_campaign=rbt_bill_emea_cc2&utm_medium=email&utm_source=democratsabroad
A Republican???
That's a bitter pill to swallow! Of course, we Democrats Abroad are glad to crow about some success and some progress. It would just be nice if we got a little support from our own side for once.
= new reply since forum marked as read
