• givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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    1 day ago

    That gets thrown around all the time…

    https://www.irs.gov/individuals/international-taxpayers/foreign-earned-income-exclusion

    But the exception to it is pretty rational and covers most people.

    It’s like how billionaires convince poor people that can’t afford to retire that a tax only 2% of people will ever pay on inheritance is a pressing issue and society doesn’t deserve their cut.of problematic levels of generational wealth.

    Like, do you understand how ripe this is for manipulation by the wealthy to turn public opinion against the wealthiest few who pay these taxes?

    C’mon man…

    It’s 2025, we need to learn to recognize this shit on our own, misinformation is going to keep getting worse.

    Quick edit:

    For clarity, you do still need to file federal taxes every year, even though you have zero withholdings and still owe $0.

    But people get in trouble for not filing, same as people who live in Alaska. There’s no debt for missed payments, but there may be fines/consequences anyways

    • wildbus8979@sh.itjust.works
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      24 hours ago

      There’s a ton of intricacies to it though, for example if you live in Canada you can’t invest in one of the two retirement accounts without paying some pretty hefty fees. Primary residence are only excluded for a relatively small amount (might be enough if you live in a small town, forget it if you live in a major metropolitan area past a small one bedroom condo), and the division with a partner isn’t 50/50 like it is in Canada so your Canadian partner potentially looses a ton of money. Increases the cost of accountants and personal finance advisors by like three folds. Etc, etc…

      I get that trying to get rich people to not use tax heavens is good. But this affects regular people who haven’t lived in the country for years, decades, as well as their non American families.

      I know this first hand, and second hand, as my immediate and extended family is all sort of cross border intertwined. It’s a real pain in the ass.

    • Gordito@lemmy.world
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      24 hours ago

      Do you know how much expats have to pay just to align their taxes and file? Only country to tax on citizenship. It’s ridiculous that it’s even allowed internationally.

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        24 hours ago

        I do know…

        What’s weird is you didn’t even click the link or even seem to read my comment:

        If you are a U.S. citizen or a resident alien of the United States and you live abroad, you are taxed on your worldwide income. However, you may qualify to exclude your foreign earnings from income up to an amount that is adjusted annually for inflation ($107,600 for 2020, $108,700 for 2021, $112,000 for 2022, and $120,000 for 2023). In addition, you can exclude or deduct certain foreign housing amounts.

        America has bigger problems than migrant workers in other countries who make well North of six figures.

        You’re not getting any pity from the average American over “filing fees” when you can do that shit on TurboTax.

        • Gordito@lemmy.world
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          23 hours ago

          You still need to file… It’s complex as shit. It’s not an easy filing with turbo tax when you have a company, partners who are not dual citizens etc. I’m by no means rich but I shouldn’t have to file taxes where I’m not residing. And if I wanted to get rid of my citizenship it’s also expensive and you have to have filed for the past 7 years. It’s not about pity. It’s about what is ethical. And being the only country to do this it isn’t ethical.