From: Duncan Frissell <frissell@panix.com>
Date: Sat, 27 Apr 1996 17:39:53 +0800
To: Black Unicorn <ml3e+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: US law - World Law - Secret Banking
Message-ID: <2.2.32.19960427033035.00d183b0@panix.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
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At 04:55 PM 4/26/96 -0400, Black Unicorn wrote:

>First of all, and as one of the only western powers to do so, the United
>States taxes its citizens on _worldwide income_.  While this in itself,
>with a proper foreign tax credit system, is not offensive, when the Unites
>States adds to this a very wide scope of extraterratorial jurisdiction and
>compelled process, it becomes more than tax.  Further, the United States
>implements policy it cannot directly legislate constiutionally through
>taxation.

Just to make it perfectly clear...

The US (and the Philippines) are the only countries in the *civilized world*
that tax non-resident citizens.  This means, par example, that if you are
born in the US and leave at the age of 2 days, never return, never get any
services from any US government, you are subject to full US federal
taxation.  If you happen to reside in a country with no tax treaty with the
US, you will owe local country taxes *plus* US federal taxes simply because
of citizenship.  In any of the European countries, you can eliminate your
tax liability for foreign (out-of-country) source income simply by moving
overseas.  They tax all residents but only non-resident citizens who have
domestic source income.  The US grabs everything even if you've had
virtually no US contacts.

This is why some rich Americans have renounced their citizenship to avoid
taxes on their non-US income, rich Brits don't have to renounce they can
keep their citizenship and just move.

>It is partly the arrogance of many U.S. citizens, and the view that their
>government knows the one single way to conduct economic and foreign
>affairs, that empowers the United States to impose her tax and
>economic policy on unconnected sovereigns thousands of miles away.

Note the other areas this has applied as well.  Roosevelt's outlawry of
private posession of gold by Americans made it a crime for Americans to own
gold anywhere on earth.  And the proposed regs on licensing of space
launches prohibited Americans from committing unlicensed space launches
anywhere on earth.

DCF

"Note that no woman has ever conquered Europe but several men have.  No
point, I just thought it was interesting."