Record number of Americans renounce citizenship over new tax bill

The United States has long had a history off accepting foreigners, and has dealt with the problems associated with mass immigration, as is the case with the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants who enter the U.S. from Mexico every year, but another problem has risen, why are so many Americans leaving the country?

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Data compiled from a report by the U.S. Treasury Department has found that thousands of Americans have renounced their U.S. citizenship in 2014.

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These 3,415 Americans are larger than those who gave up citizenship in the U.S. in 2013, which was only 2,999.

Tax evasion is the primary reason that many of these people are renouncing their citizenship, in fact the FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) is the major reason.

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The FATCA act requires that foreign banks who have accounts with Americans that hold over $50,000 reveal said information to the U.S. government, or risk being frozen out of the U.S. market. Now Americans who live overseas, some of whom may have never lived in the U.S. or don't retain any connections, are under a lot of pressure to file a detailed tax return on overseas income.

While in theory this act is intended to catch wealthy Americans who hide their money abroad to avoid being taxed on it, the reality is that it will only ensure that many of these wealthy individuals will renounce their U.S. citizenship.

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