I got sucked in by one of those online “news stories” that actually was at least 6 months old. The article purported that wealthy Americans were giving up their citizenship to avoid paying taxes particularly on money earned, kept or hidden overseas.
I’ve read that with our progressive tax system about half don’t pay any income tax and/or may receive a credit from the government. Likewise, reports indicate that the top one percent pay 30% of the taxes to the federal government. (I’m not saying these are correct, as Mark Twain reportedly said, “There’s lies, damned lies and statistics.”)
At first I thought it might be worth our while to try to induce these folks to stay around in order to catch the tax revenue, but then I dug a little deeper.
It appears that most of them don’t actually live here. I’m guessing many have dual citizenship, so they’re more like part time Americans.
Since money is more important than their citizenship, I figure they’re at best fair-weather Americans; at worst, American in name only.
I prefer us normal, not wealthy, plain old every day Americans, anyway.
To the rich who are turning in their passports, “Don’t let the bank vault door hit you in ass on your way out!”
sfnowak 