Recent Articles about FATCA and Renunciations of U.S. Citizenship

Following the news that a record number of American citizens recently renounced their U.S. citizenship (over 1000 in one three month period) some reporters are smelling a story behind those figures and are finally digging deeper into the underlying causes.

That wasn't just good luck on our part, mes amis.  Part of it came from hard work on the part of organizations like AARO, ACA, FAWCO and the Isaac Brock Society,  and people like Marvin van Horn, Peter Dunn, Lynne Swanson, James Jatras and Allison Christians (to name just a few).

But another part (the most important in my view) was the decision of so many Americans abroad from all over the world to publicly share their stories and be interviewed; to leave thoughtful and intelligent comments to the on-line articles; and to respond to the questions (and sometimes the insults) of the homelanders.

It's been a collective effort to educate American lawmakers, the international media and our dear compatriots in the homeland.  You should know, folks, that your comments were noted and read by reporters and that was one of the reasons that we are seeing so many new articles now that are more balanced and give our side of the story.  The mosquitoes are swarming and isn't that something to see?

Here are just a few of the articles that have appeared this past week - some good reads that you can peruse over your Sunday morning coffee.  Please feel free to add any I may have missed.

Exposed: IRS Is Colluding With Banks To Unfairly Target U.S. Citizens Abroad by Catherine Featherston on Occupy.com

Why are so many American expats giving up citizenship? It’s a taxing issue by  Patrick Cain, Anna Mehler Paperny and Leslie Young in Global News (Canada)

(You can join the discussion about these two articles on Isaac Brock and the Maple Sandbox.)

Américains, ils renoncent à leur citoyenneté pour échapper à la loi FATCA in L'Expansion.

Sharp Rise in Americans Giving Up Citizenship by Marcus Wraight on PRI's (Public Radio International) The World.

Overseas Americans: Time to Say 'Bye' to Uncle Sam? Chased by the U.S. Government, Thousands Are Severing Ties With America. Here's What You Need to Know by Laura Saunders and Liam Pleven in the Wall Street Journal.

FATCA and the American Expat:  Taxation without Representation by Robert Held in the Washington Examiner.

There is also an excellent blog post up on Tax Controversy (hat tip to Marvin who passed along the link from Jack Townsend's site) called  Tax Consequences Resulting From Renouncing U. S. Citizenship by Lacey E. Strachan.

And here is an interview from Fox News about US entrepreneurs renouncing:

And finally I recommend that you go back and read (or re-read) Colleen Graffy's excellent article (published before the renunciation numbers came out)  How to Lose Friends, Citizens and Influence in the Wall Street Journal.

Bonne lecture!