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I arrived here in the Commonwealth of Dominica earlier this week.Ă‚Â It's always a pleasure to come here; I go through the "residents" line at passport control and the official stamps my Dominica passport with the notation "RR" for returning resident.
(This is an important update to a posting originally published Nov. 9, 2012).
In between eggnog, opening gifts, along with a bout of flu, last week I reviewed a fascinating article dealing with the near century-long tradition of passport denials by U.S. officials.
Do you routinely put the "do not disturb" sign on your hotel room door? If you do, you may fit the profile of a suspected terrorist, and the FBI and Homeland Security Administration want to know about it.
For the last three days, I've been in bustling downtown Panama City, Panama, speaking at an offshore conference. Panama is as dynamic as ever, and I've made considerable progress filing my application for permanent residence.
In a surprise initiative, the ruling party in Hungary has proposed legislation granting permanent residence and ultimately citizenship to investors who purchase government bonds valued at €250,000 or more.
Mark Nestmann will be a featured speaker and exhibitor at Live & Invest Overseas Emergency Offshore Summit to be held Nov. 14-16 in Panama City, Panama, at the luxurious Veneto Grand Hotel & Casino.
After a hiatus of a few months, Overseas Radio Network has resumed live broadcasting! Once again, yours truly, P.T. Freeman, is a featured host.
It's down to the wire. Tomorrow will be day one of our long-awaited Escape from America seminar.
U.S. investors investing offshore for the first time often wonder why offshore banks won’t accept them as clients.
Over the last few weeks, local news sources in Belize have reported that officials in the country's immigration and passport offices issued identity documents to an individual linked to an Islamic jihadist organization.
In August 2011, encouraged by friends who I thought knew much more about these sorts of things than I do, I opened a small account to trade options and futures. The account was with MF Global.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.Ă‚Â And with governments in almost every country desperately seeking new revenues, it was only a matter of time before they begin imitating the U.S. example of imposing tax on the worldwide income of it citizens.
Last year, I wrote about a new State Department “Biographical Questionnaire” (Form DS-5513) that, if approved, you might have to complete to receive a passport. Among other questions, Form DS-5513 requested:
In my last post, I wrote that there are two sets of rules with which you must be concerned when you move precious metals across a U.S. border:
I've spent the last week in Belize. While I've never been before, I've learned a great deal about this fascinating country and its people over the last few days.
What standard of proof does the IRS have to demonstrate in order impose the most severe civil or criminal penalties possible for failing to acknowledge a foreign account? The answer: less than you might think.
Over the last two years, I've written extensively about a U.S. law enacted in 2010. It's called the "Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act," or FATCA.
The numbers of U.S. citizens and long-term residents "expatriating"—i.e., giving up U.S. citizenship or long-term permanent residence status—is skyrocketing. Official statistics from the IRS state that in 2011, almost 1,800 people gave up their U.S. citizenship or handed in their "Green Card" to U.S. authorities.
You have to credit the folks at the IRS for their ironic sense of humor. On June 20, 2012, the IRS clarified offshore reporting rules for 2011 with respect to Form 8938, “Statement of Specified Foreign Financial Assets." While the clarifications are both significant and welcomed, it would have been nice if the IRS hadn't waited two months after the filing deadline for Form 8938 (April 17, 2012). (The form, if required, was due with a U.S. taxpayer's 2011 tax return).
The IRS seems to be putting the infamous FATCA statute into effect two years early. It's already withholding 30% of all U.S. income generated from U.S. securities accounts owned by non-resident aliens (NRA). That's only supposed to begin happening in two years.
Can the U.S. government force you to sign a document that strips you of your nationality? Longstanding legal precedent says U.S. citizens end U.S. citizenship only "with the intention of relinquishing United States nationality." However, several cases have emerged where the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (C&BP) agency has coerced native-born U.S. citizens into signing away their birthright.
Brazilian-born Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin relinquished his U.S. citizenship late last year. As an expatriate, Saverin must pay an "exit tax" on the value of any unrealized gains in his worldwide estate, less a $636,000 exclusion for 2011. I'm not privy to billionaire Saverin's financial affairs, but I have no reason to doubt his statement that he will pay "hundreds of millions" of dollars in exit tax to the U.S. government. Some of this tax is on the pre-initial public offering (pre-IPO) value of his Facebook shares.
Austerity measures in France, Greece, and Spain demanded by these countries' creditors have spurred unemployment, cuts in pension costs, and above all, politically motivated attacks on wealth.
As a former U.S. citizen who has given up U.S. citizenship, I've visited dozens of countries using my Commonwealth of Dominica passport.
While you have an absolute right to give up your U.S. citizenship, you must make your intention to expatriate crystal-clear.
Sometimes people ask what I fear most. My answer isn't really what they expect.
If you're a U.S. citizen or long-term permanent resident ("green card" holder), you have a unique responsibility: you must pay tax on your worldwide income, even if you live outside the United States. Not to mention capital gains tax, gift tax, and estate tax.
One of the strongest enforcement mechanisms any government has over its citizens is to restrict their ability to travel internationally.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Ut elit tellus, luctus nec ullamcorper mattis, pulvinar dapibus leo.
The Nestmann Group does not sell, rent or otherwise share your private details with third parties. Learn more about our privacy policy here.
By signing up for this briefing, you’ll also start to receive our popular weekly publication, Nestmann’s Notes. If you don’t want to receive that, simply email  or click the unsubscribe link found in every message.