Similar Posts

One Comment

  1. There is a distinction between renouncing and relinquishing citizenship. I found that because I was relinquishing that it took less than a month to get an appointment. The moment to relinquish is at taking foreign citizenship or taking a pledge to a foreign power (there are a few other ways too). Once having done an expatriating act, one must inform the US State Department, usually at a consulate, and they will make you take oaths indicating that you understand what it means to lose citizenship and that you did the act with the intention of relinquishing. A person can renounce at any time but the US consulate usually requires two visits and $450. I relinquished at the moment of taking foreign citizenship and managed to talk the consulate into a single visit to make the necessary oaths and deposit the required papers. They did not charge $450 to tell them that I had relinquished; but they have not issued a certificate of loss of citizenship yet, so I do not know if they will charge me for the certificate! When relinqishing, the IRS counts the date of the visit to the US consulate to inform them as the date of loss of citizenship (thus creating a contradiction in the law), but they will not acknowledge that loss until you file the forms they require. But now that the Canadian government has come out with their statement that they won’t collect for the IRS from Canadian citizens, it probably doesn’t matter if you file the final forms (provided your assets are all in Canada).

Comments are closed.

Tax laws change over time, and the information in this post above may be less accurate today than it was at the time of the last revision. This post is not tax advice for your specific situation. Please contact an international tax professional to get personalized advice for your situation.