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Comment by anigbrowl | Hacker News Reader

You can still move capital out of the US. If you do not wish to pay taxes on your capital gains, you can move yourself outside and take up the citizenship of another country, while renouncing that of the US.

As far as I am aware, there is nothing preventing you moving (say) a million dollars of your personal, post-tax income to Switzerland and just parking it there if for some reason you feel it's not secure here. You have to declare the fact but it's not like there are capital controls in place that prevent you from doing so - I'm quite willing to be corrected on this if you know otherwise.

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It isn't quite that simple if you're a US citizen. Clinton closed that loophole. You are still liable for worldwide tax for I believe 10 years if the IRS decides you renounced your citizenship for tax purposes.

The US is also the only major country that taxes it's citizens regardless of residence. Yes there is a large deduction, but you still have to file and pay anything over that deduction.

The big thing preventing you from moving your money to say Switzerland is that most international banks including those in Switzerland don't dare to touch US clients for the same reasons as described in the document.

No, when you are dead. Since you were once U.S. citizen in tax sense by owning U.S. properties and securities. (including you as permanent residents, or H1-B visa holders) The U.S. tax authority now has right to go to Swiss banks to request freezing of assets.

The worse part is when calculating your tax, the U.S. tax authority will treat you as a non citizen so they can tax assets more than 60k, instead of usually 1 million in 2009.

This just happens to one of the Taiwanese Billionaire, Wang Yung-ching. He owned U.S. properties and his company Formosa Plastics Corporation now is trying to estimate the amount of the tax they owe to U.S. tax authority, even the company is not a U.S. company and he has no U.S. citizenship and permanent resident status. But because both entities owns U.S. properties. The U.S. tax authority has their bites to all the company assets in Taiwan, too.

Meanwhile, his heirs in Taiwan still need to pay the inheritance taxes for their own shares of the inheritance.

Hmm, that sounds interesting but it seems much more complex than you suggest. Mr Wang died in new Jersey and left no will; so far it seems there has not even been a decision over whether his estate should be divided by up by a NJ or a Taiwan court, which would result in different outcomes since some of his unmarried lovers would have inheritance rights under Taiwanese law.

http://www.probatelawyerblog.com/2009/08/new-jersey-hosts-es...

I also found information about estate taxes being paid in Taiwan, but not in the US: http://www.taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xitem=54144&ctnode=419&...

Incidentally, HN readers might be using one of Mr Wang's chipsets: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Yung-ching

Thanks for amending it. I thought it will not be that popular for U.S. audience for his story so I simplified it. What I want to said is he is not a U.S. citizen and permanent resident. But he owns properties in U.S.

I wonder what will be the case for Morris Chang? He retired from Texas Instrument after he was sure his pension and stock was vested. Then he left U.S. to Taiwan to found TSMC.

Is this actually possible for regular people? If someone, for example, was fed up with the US, where could they go?

You hear the idea of getting out if you don't like it often. But, I think it's BS.

Does anyone have facts that dispute my assertion?

http://benefitslink.com/articles/guests/washbull080630.html

Summary (if you meet any of 3 tests, example net worth of $2 million) if you relinquish your US citizenship any unrealized capital gains must be "marked to market" and you have to pay taxes on that amount.

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