The New York Times wrote an article today about American citizens living overseas who give up their citizenship rather than pay taxes to a country they don’t live in. The United States is the only developed country that taxes its citizens who live in a foreign country. Not only that, the United States taxes its citizens who have become permanent residents of other countries as well. Most countries do not tax their citizens living abroad, and therefore do not push their citizens to make the difficult decision of renouncing citizenship.

To add insult to injury, the Republican Congress, despite all its talk of tax cuts, actually drastically increased taxes for those who live outside the U.S.

But after Congress sharply raised taxes this year for many Americans living abroad, some international tax lawyers say they detect rising demand from citizens to renounce ties with the United States, the only developed country that taxes it citizens while they live overseas. Americans abroad are also taxed in the countries where they live.

“The administrative costs of being an American and living outside the U.S. have gone up dramatically,” said Marnin Michaels, a tax lawyer with Baker & McKenzie in Zurich. (Read more…)

According to the NYT article, only 509 Americans have given up citizenship so far this year. For more information about the newly enacted tax regulations, click here.