The Nestmann Group keeps you up to date on important trends, developments and risks that may affect you. Here’s what’s new…
Approximately seven million U.S. citizens live overseas. And while most of them don’t realize it, they’re subject to the same U.S. tax and reporting obligations as any other U.S. citizen.
“A man’s home may be his castle, but that does not keep the government from taking it.â€
I just learned Monday that CPA Vernon Jacobs died last Friday after an unsuccessful battle with esophageal cancer.
If you move cash or other "monetary instruments" across a U.S. border, you may be required to tell the U.S. Treasury.
There are several ways that a U.S. citizen can expatriate; i.e., end their U.S. citizen status.
The "Bush tax cuts" are now a memory. Now that 2013 has arrived, marginal tax rates on high-earning Americans have increased substantially, especially those that earn more than $250,000 annually.
U.S. citizens and permanent residents who invest offshore resemble the recently departed Osama bin Laden more than they might wish to admit.
I've long predicted there would come a time when the U.S. government began requiring individuals applying for or renewing their U.S. passports to prove tax compliance.
Last week, my friend and colleague Mark Nestmann wrote about a proposed form that may soon become necessary to complete in order to obtain a U.S. passport. Â You must disclose a great deal of extremely personal information on this form, including details of religious rites performed at your birth (e.g., circumcision).
If you have the equivalent of $500,000 or more to invest (more in some cases), you qualify for the
An article in a Mexican newspaper reports that Mexican federal police seized more than 150 gold coins from a traveler in the Mexico City International Airport. The seizure apparently occurred last year; the article is dated April 19, 2010.
In the last few months, I’ve received dozens of inquiries from readers who wish to convert their “unallocated†holdings of gold or precious metals to “allocated†form.
In March, 2010 President Obama signed the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) , the largest-ever expansion of offshore disclosure requirements in U.S. history.
I've written widely in this blog about the subject of expatriation. From a U.S. perspective, that's the act of giving up your U.S. citizenship and passport, and setting up legal residence outside the United States.
After I expatriated and moved to the Caribbean, I had to confront an important issue: health care. I quickly discovered that while prices for health care services are much lower than USA (typically 50% less), the quality of care varies greatly.
High-tax countries like the United States aren't the only ones experiencing a budget crisis. Dozens of low-tax jurisdictions are, too. Like the USA, they're scrambling to raise revenues, any way they can. And in some of them, your wealth is in the crosshairs.
Offshore centers now face a perfect financial storm. In more prosperous times, revenues from the offshore sector, along with tourism, helped fuel these countries' economies. Their governments emulated more developed nations by borrowing heavily to build up their infrastructure. They also bought votes with social programs and bloated government payrolls.
Those readers living in the United States take property and casualty insurance for granted. But if you move abroad, you’ll quickly discover that coverage on your property may not be available. If it is available, it may be more expensive and contain more exclusions than a U.S. policy.
Expatriation—giving up U.S. residence and nationality, including your U.S. passport—is an admittedly radical step. But it's the only way that a U.S. citizen or long-term resident can permanently disconnect from future tax obligations. (For background on this and other reasons why you might want to expatriate, click here.)
The Obama administration continues to work diligently to crack down further on U.S. citizens and residents who invest offshore. One of those efforts has now come to fruition.Â
In the last few months, I've noted increasing interest from clients wanting to take physical delivery of their precious metals holdings. This appears to be a worldwide trend. Colleagues in Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Singapore have informed me that many of the wealthiest investors in Asia and Europe are now demanding delivery of their gold holdings from bonded warehouses in London, Chicago, and elsewhere.
Your DNA is your genetic blueprint. It's unique to you and your DNA profile is the equivalent of a bar code stamped on your forehead.
The only way for a U.S. citizen or permanent resident to sever all ties with the United States is to expatriate. That is, you give up your citizenship and passport, or, in the case of a permanent resident, your green card, and live as a foreigner outside the United States.
U.S. customs authorities have assigned themselves the authority to copy all data on your laptop or other electronic device when you cross a U.S. border. I wrote about this policy in an earlier post.
Every now and then, ordinary citizens can glimpse the breadth and depth of the surveillance infrastructure erect to monitor us. In the last few days, Americans have had such an opportunity, thanks to privacy researcher Christopher Soghoian, a doctoral student at Indiana University.
Thinking about getting a tattoo? If you are, better not pay cash! If you do, the FBI has informed tattoo parlors in Los Angeles, and perhaps other cities, that you might be a terrorist.
It’s time for another installment in my periodic postings on frivolous lawsuits.
There are a lot more former U.S. citizens than there once were. Americans fed up with paying tax—and their government—are voting with their feet. And they're doing it in much greater numbers than ever before.
On September 1, Austria's parliament approved a law to ease banking secrecy in the last EU country on the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) "gray list" of tax havens. It was a challenge to assemble a two-thirds majority necessary to weaken the law, but Austria's leaders persuaded legislators of the importance for Austria to get off the OECD's odious list.
The abominable practice of "civil forfeiture" is a legal procedure in which prosecutors can seize your property without accusing you—much less convicting you—of any crime.