I left the US in 1999 thinking, yay no more dealings with the IRS
How wrong could I have been. I just got a notice that my 2000 return is overdue. But I left in 1999 and did not work in the US in 2000. So I called the IRS.
Apparently as I still hold some stock and earned $27 in 2000, I still have to file, even though I have to declare that earning to the UK taxman.
But when I sell the stocks I will not pay US taxes anyway due to US/UK agreements I will pay the taxes in the UK. So the IRS are just wasting thier own money.
As I cannot be bothered to remember to file my US tax return, and the IRS know eveything anyway. I will just wait for the overdure notice each year and file a return with the figures they tell me they know about.
So to all those tax paying US citizens, this is how your tax dollars are spent
Since I'll probably work through the first or second day of January to qualify for the 'bonus' at the end of 2002 I'm sure I'll be harassessed for the next decade or so to file in the US even though I won't be working or living in the US. In three years I can apply for Finnish citizenship but even then I think the IRS will still try to lay claim to some of my earnings and, since Finland cooperates with the US on such matters, I won't be able to hide from them either.
The US does excel at tax collection. Al Capone didn't fall prey to police rather the IRS. Pity Bin Laden couldn't have been a tax evader as we might have caught him by now.
Re:I'm looking forward to the same...
gbarr on 2002-09-16T18:38:57
But you are a US citizen. Unless you give up US citizenship all together you are required to file a tax return every year, no matter where in the world you live or workRe:I'm looking forward to the same...
hfb on 2002-09-16T18:50:09
I will be relinquishing my US citizenship as soon as possible....but that doesn't mean that the IRS won't keep trying to bleed me for whatever they can. Wars are expensive you know.
