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In reply to the discussion: Millionaire Renounces US Citizenship To Dodge Taxes, Whines When He Can’t Come Back [View all]DFW
(54,647 posts)I moved to Germany to live with my wife (she's German) full time and travel less. German taxes are higher than US taxes, and although all my income is in the USA, it's all taxed in Germany except for certain income which must be taxed in the US, and is therefore exempt from taxation in Germany under the USA-Germany double taxation treaty. That was all hashed out between US and German accountants and the German version of the IRS years ago. Then the Germans disregarded all their agreements and now want to tax me on the income they said was exempt, and on which I already paid US taxes, which would put it somewhere around the 96% bracket. The German accountants were furious when they saw it, as their own authorities did a 180° on what they had ruled previously, and they are appealing, but it is time-consuming grief (and expensive to me), and I could still lose (some of them think it's 1938 or something).
Be honest and declare everything, and they punish you for it if you're an easy target. Be GE or Exxon and hide everything in Ireland and Luxembourg, and they'll kiss your hand for staying in their swankest hotels and taking the minister of finance out to the fanciest restaurant in town.