Definitely not true and quite dangerous to try and give this sort of advice to people over the internet. Every American citizen is required to file if they have any income regardless of where they live. Risk varies by circumstance whether you choose to ignore your tax obligations or comply. For many of us who need to travel back to the US, and have family there, the risk is big enough to make this a huge headache.

Lots of expats just don’t file. It’s to some extent dependent on your circumstances. If you’re an “accidental American” and have never entered the tax system, it makes sense not to enter it, even if you are required to by American law. For someone like me, who was already in the system, it’s a judgement call. I was not comfortable with the potential risk – it kept me up at night. But I’m not sure what you mean about your entity and your capitalized name… and I doubt that argument would hold water either with the IRS or with a “foreign” bank that was refusing to offer services to you because of your American citizenship.

Given how poor their record-keeping is, you might very well be able to, but I also wonder what could happen if you got caught!

I still have my certificate of naturalization from way back when I lived in the US and became a citizen. Sometimes I wonder what would happen if I take that in to the passport office and try to get a new US passport?

Probably not a good idea! How many would sell it to the highest bidder rather than giving it to a needy Mexican lady? I agree that it’s a shame that we have to give it up when we still feel so attached to it.

Hi Rachel,
The second interview with my son went much better than the first. They were polite and did not badger him again about banking problems or taxes. They said that he would receive his CLN in 6 to 8 weeks! I had to wait 6 months. Maybe they have had to put more people on this since so many are renouncing. Wait and see…. I have in the meantime also asked for a travel visa to the USA with my Belgain passport and that went very smoothly. Good to know that I can still travel to the the USA if necessary as I have an older brother living there. It just all seems such a shame. Some people would fight to have a US passport and here we had to give it up! I kind of wish I could have given mine to a needy Mexican lady that just wants a better life for herself!

There are official lists that get published in the US every quarter that supposedly list everyone who has renounced, though it’s clear that they’re not complete lists. It seems to me that the IRS has bigger fish to fry than someone who renounces without filing taxes. Theoretically they could do it, but they’re extremely underfunded, so they’re likely to choose targets who they could collect a lot from, so it would more than cover the costs of collecting.

I’m sorry to hear you and your son were treated so badly about renouncing. I found the people at the consulate in Amsterdam to be remarkably kind about it. They read the statement I’d written and said they understood. I don’t think it’s a problem to mention taxes, but it is a problem if you say that you are renouncing in order to avoid paying taxes. It’s two different things. My statement did mention taxes, but in terms of how I was offended that the law seemed to assume I was a tax cheat until I proved that I wasn’t.