Assume that this is not a wannabee, but someone who, for example, already has a solid job offer from an EU country, and some cash for the relocation.
Assume that this is not a wannabee, but someone who, for example, already has a solid job offer from an EU country, and some cash for the relocation.
You’ll still be on the hook for US taxes.
If you plan to return
Maybe also check your current countries extradition treaty 😅
If you pan to keep and use your passport*
Even if you never plan to return, you are still (legally) on the hook to file a 1040-NR form with the IRS every year.
There’s a foreign earned income tax credit: this reduces your US tax bill by any income tax you paid to your residence country. For many expat working stiffs, this means they don’t have to pay anything to Uncle Sam, but they still have to file a tax return.
There’s also an income exclusion under $125k/yr.
Even if you plan to renounce your citizenship, that’s a long (and often expensive) process and you have to keep filing and paying taxes until it’s done.
The US is one of only 2 (?) countries in the world that does citizenship-based taxation.
Is there an exit tax when you leave the US? France for example has that, and the new Belgian government wants to introduce it as well.
Not when you change residency, but if you relinquish your citizenship: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expatriation_tax#United_States or your residency has been revoked.
So if you remain a US citizen you owe normal annual tax (minus a credit for foreign taxes paid).
Seems like it only matters if your taxable income is over ~$130k? So with foreign income exclusion that would mean you’d have to make over ~$250k/year for the 5 previous years.
At that point you can just pay your problems away…
I think there is, but it doesn’t apply universally. I think it was one of those things designed to catch the ultra-rich who were renouncing their citizenship to get lower taxes elsewhere, but it ends up catching a lot of people who are middle class.
I believe someone complained recently that there is one.