According to recent data by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Americans renouncing their citizenship has reached a record high this year.
Data released in early May indicated that over two-thousand Americans, 2,909, who currently live abroad have given up their citizenship in the first three months of 2020, a 1,104% increase from the previous three months of 2019 in which total 261 cases were recorded.
In order to let go of citizenship, Americans must pay a $2,350 government fee and must do so in person at the US Embassy in their country.
Presently, it is estimated that 9 million American citizens live outside of the USA.
As per the Newswire.com website, 2,072 Americans ended their citizenship in 2019, with Bambridge Accountants New York, saying that the coronavirus pandemic motivated American expats to cut ties and avoid “onerous” tax reporting.
Alistair Bambridge, partner at Bambridge Accountants New York, said the surge was due to the pandemic, which “allowed individuals to get their affairs in order and deal with an issue they may have been putting off for a while.”
“For US citizens living abroad, they are still required to file US tax returns, potentially pay US tax and report all their foreign bank accounts, investments and pensions held outside the US,” said Bambridge. “For many Americans this intrusion is too much and they make the serious step of renouncing their citizenship as they do not plan to return to live in the US.”
