Renouncing U.S. Citizenship Or Giving Up A Green Card: Why And How To Consider It

The United Kingdom and the United States share a strong bond, and U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status allows access to the largest economy in the world. Why would a dual U.K-U.S. citizen, or a Briton who has been granted a U.S. "green card," ever consider giving that up? Increasingly, the answer is one word: tax.

Unique among global powers, the United States taxes the worldwide income of its citizens and permanent resident status holders no matter where they live. Additionally, the requirement that a U.K-U.S. citizen or green card holder file an annual U.S. income tax return is not waived by the fact that the United States grants a credit for taxes paid to the U.K. In fact, many U.S. citizens living abroad do not actually owe U.S. tax, but they can face very stiff monetary penalties for failing to file required disclosures about non-U.S. assets in a timely manner.