'Scary': Why US expats are tossing their citizenships - and it's not just Trump

Renouncing one’s US citizenship is a complicated, expensive process. Yet in recent times – particularly election years – a rising number have embraced the “ex” in “expatriate”.

It’s a handful of days until the US election. Expat Americans thirst for news on the presidential race. But there’s one group who wants nothing to do with next Tuesday’s vote; those who plan to, are in the process of, or have already renounced their US citizenship. And there are more of them than you might think, particularly in an election year like this one – involving Donald J. Trump.

For Americans who want to stop being American, it’s a big deal to renounce their citizenship. Philosophically and nationalistically, but also practically. Why do they do it? I speak to a dozen, some on the record, most on background, some on the record at first and then freaking out. It’s not so much about Trump or even his presidential rival Kamala Harris (although for some, it is). It’s about what America has become.

“In the US, the gap between Republicans and Democrats gets wider and wider. I resented the direction it was moving in,” says Dan Moffet, 51, a credit ratings executive born and bred in Atlanta, Georgia, who has called Australia home since 2016 and renounced his US citizenship in 2022. “Here [in Australia], everyone crowds towards the centre.”

For others, it’s shhhh about tax – because, as the University of Melbourne law professor Miranda Stewart explains, the US taxes on a citizenship basis, meaning Americans living abroad can be taxed by the IRS (Internal Revenue Service, the US version of the Australian Taxation Office), whereas Australia, like pretty much the rest of the world, taxes on a residence basis. That means American citizens working in Australia might end up paying tax in both countries. Sure, the US and Australia have a treaty where you get some credit for what you pay if you live here. But it’s complicated, and in the US, almost everything is taxable, including the family home and superannuation (also known as a 401K or pension plan in the US). And the US still has a federal “death tax”, albeit for estates currently worth a minimum of $US13.61 million (about $20 million). If you don’t sort out what’s owed and fill in the myriad forms properly, the IRS will treat you as a hostile citizen.
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