Good site for tax/offshoring, etc. advice

[Think Different]

http://www.sovereignsociety.com

This is the interesting newsletter I got from them today:

The Sovereign Society Offshore A-Letter
Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Goodbye, America!

Why Are So Many Americans
Leaving and Not Looking Back?

By Bob Bauman, JD

During my overseas journeys, I continue to be amazed by the number of Americans I meet who are willing not only to move offshore, but who plan to end their U.S. citizenship as well.

With every election or passage of a controversial bill, inevitably some people will pledge to leave the country. But the ones who really do pack their bags and don't look back are more likely to be running toward something than running away.

"For U.S. citizens, cutting ties with their native land is a drastic and irrevocable step," says Time Magazine. (April 20).
But as Overseas Americans Week, a lobbying effort by expatriate-advocacy groups, convened in Washington recently, it was a step that an increasing number of Americans are willing to take.

Double the Number

According to government records, 502 expatriates renounced U.S. citizenship or permanent residency in the fourth quarter of 2009, more than double the number in all of 2008.

And these figures don't include the hundreds, some experts say thousands of applications languishing in various U.S. consulates and embassies around the world, waiting to be processed.

Missing Stats

There is no official count of Americans living offshore, but if the U.S. government is not counting, others are.

Estimates made by organizations such as the Association of Americans Resident Overseas put the 2008 number of non-government-employed Americans living abroad anywhere between 4 million and 7 million, a range whose low end was based loosely on the government's trial count in 1999.

If the data collected in seven Zogby polls conducted between 2005 and 2007 are fairly representative of the current decade, then at least 3 million U.S. citizens a year are moving abroad.

Young, Wealthy Leaving

More interesting, the largest number of relocating households is not those with people in or approaching retirement -- but those with adults ranging from 25 to 34 years old.

As I have pointed out repeatedly, wealthy Americans also are leaving in increasing numbers, and many of them are choosing the only way out from under the U.S. tax system ending their U.S. citizenship.

Taxes

Time thinks one of the main reasons for this exodus is taxes -- plus strict new financial reporting rules imposed in the so-called HIRE Act.

Here at The Sovereign Society, we've been observing this phenomenon since our founding in 1997.

As proof of the increased numbers of American expatriates, private client lawyers and relocation specialists also report a surge in wealthy Americans already living abroad who are prepared to give up their citizenship to avoid the scrutiny by the IRS.

Rangle-Bush Exit Tax

Although a move offshore and ending citizenship means departing Americans may have to pay the 2008 exit tax that U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel, the Democrat Congress and George Bush imposed, lawyers say this is a price that many are more than willing to pay.

If you're thinking about leaving the country, keep in mind that there is much to give up in a cultural and social sense. It is not a decision to be made with a light heart.

Stay tuned to your A-Letter to join me on my world travels and, if you're in the market for a new home, you'll learn about dozens of countries that would be happy to welcome you.

Sincerely,



Bob Bauman, JD
Sovereign Society Legal Counsel

[Winston]

Here's another one:

http://www.shelteroffshore.com/