As another season of summer travel starts, Canadian residents
with US ties should make sure they are thinking carefully about
their tax obligations. Tax compliance may not be first in the minds
of most people planning trips to the US, but Congress and the Obama
administration certainly are thinking about the combination of
travel and taxation. If a proposed law is enacted, US passport
holders with tax debt or without a valid Social Security number
could, as soon as 2016, find themselves losing that passport and
maybe even being forced to remain in the US until the issues are
resolved.
On May 14, 2015, the US Senate passed a trade bill that contains
a provision from Senator Orrin Hatch allowing the State Department
to revoke the passports of US citizens who owe more than $50,000 in
unpaid taxes, or who do not have a valid Social Security number
(SSN).1 Hatch's addition to the bill, if passed by
the House and signed by the president, would give the State
Department
