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Comment by jamessantiago | Hacker News Reader

I wonder how increases in remote work acceptance will affect emigration. If you allow remote work from anywhere it would seem like moving to another country on some sort of visa would be an instant pay increase using the foreign earned income tax break.

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Except that you have to pay taxes in that foreign country. Many of them have higher taxes than the US, and in any case, having to file taxes twice is not fun.

Many countries (including Israel, where I live) have tax treaties with the US. You still need to file US taxes every year, but any money you pay toward your country of residence counts toward your American taxes, up to a certain ceiling.

The fact that US income tax is lower than those in most other countries means that such people will almost never paying any actual tax -- and, believe it or not, are even entitled to a tax refund from the US government.

So yes, it's a pain that the US makes me file tax forms every year. Or more realistically, the US makes me pay an accountant to handle this for me. But the odds of my having to pay income tax to the US are pretty slim, until/unless I'm making a ton of money, in which case I'm sure that my accountant will think of new clever ways to avoid doing so.

> The fact that US income tax is lower than those in most other countries means that such people will almost never paying any actual tax

Not to the US, at least, but to the other country, yes. So going abroad is not a way to save money on taxes.

> The fact that US income tax is lower than those in most other countries means that such people will almost never paying any actual tax -- and, believe it or not, are even entitled to a tax refund from the US government.

After you exhaust the foreign-earned income credit (which is roughly 90K), you're basically paying the higher of US and local tax. And it's not always lower e.g. Americans in Hong Kong will end up paying tax.

I've never heard of anyone getting a refund from this.

The netherlands at least has a "highly skilled migrant" system wherein you are refunded a chunk of your dutch taxes. This results in paying a similar amount to the US.

> believe it or not, are even entitled to a tax refund from the US government.

From the IRS website:

> Your foreign tax credit cannot be more than your total U.S. tax liability multiplied by a fraction. The numerator of the fraction is your taxable income from sources outside the United States. The denominator is your total taxable income from U.S. and foreign sources.

So no, one is not entitled to a tax refund, because the credit cannot be more than the total U.S. tax liability.

The US taxing citizens abroad, the irony: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Revolution#1764.E2.80....

You can vote from abroad, so that's not the problem, really.

Other than president who can you vote for? Who represents a US citizen's interests when living abroad? Some never have been to the Unites States and have no home state. Yet they are required to file and pay taxes.

You can vote in the state you last resided in or even the place you feel is 'home' in the US. I still participate in Oregon elections, for example.

http://travel.state.gov/content/passports/english/abroad/leg...

I don't know the details for people who have never lived in the US, but they are entitled to vote, being citizens.

Being forced to pay taxes is an unwelcome burden with few benefits, but you can vote if you live abroad.

Parent's point is that your Oregonian congressman is not looking out for your interests but those of his resident-constituents. If emigrants comprise a population roughly equivalent to Maryland, why don't they get their own representation?

His point was "taxation without representation", which is false. Your point is more nuanced and interesting, I think. I suspect it'd take changes to the constitution to enact, so is likely not feasible, unfortunately.

Some countries reserve parliament seats for representatives of citizens abroad: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_constituency

Thanks for the link; that's interesting.

Apparently even in the US the Democratic National Convention gives state-level recognition to Democrats Abroad, an organization for overseas Democrat voters.

In France we have I think 10 or 12 seats in the House and roughly the same in the Senate representing 5 regions of the world. You register and vote in your embassy or consulate. So expats do have representative looking for them and their specific needs. And it seems fair to me. And as far as I know, expats don't pay french taxes. So clearly a pretty different focus on that matter.

Many states allow you to vote from abroad if your parents and/or legal guardians are eligible: http://www.fvap.gov/citizen-voter/reside

Interesting, this could add another layer of craziness on top of gerrymandering to nonproportional winner takes all repentation. Somebody seems to have had a bright moment when requiring that "parents and/or legal guardians" condition..

Back on topic, I generally feel a little uneasy with the question of the migrant vote. Denying the vote to emigrants? Not good. Denying the vote to immigrants? Not good. Migrants (with inherently less commitment to a single state) effectively getting more votes per capita than non-migrants? Not good either! This is certainly just a highly abstract problem that probably deserves quotes ("problem"), but it should not be completely ignored in a world of ever-increasing international mobility.

Nah, of course not. It's not even practical... The amount of jobs that could be done remotely (e.g. programming, design, etc.) are just a tiny fraction.

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