Monthly Archives: February 2015

Could The 2015 Obama budget proposal for "dual citizens" have been implemented without Congressional approval?

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Note: This post was originally written in 2015. Parts of this post have been updated in January of 2021. (The original post is here.) The changes reflect the evolution of my thinking. I now believe that Treasury could (or could have) accomplished much of this proposal through Treasury regulations.

Part 1 – The Obama 2015 Budget Proposal – Change you can believe in?

This was the subject of significant discussion at the Isaac Brock Society. It was also the subject of an insightful blog post by U.S. Tax Lawyer Virginia La Torre Jeker.

It is possible that (at long last) the U.S. government is beginning to recognize that there is a difference between “technical citizenship” and a voluntary U.S. connection indicative of “substantive citizenship” that might (but is not required to) justify taxation of U.S. citizens abroad in the 21st century.

The relevant provision (page 282) includes:

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Tales of renouncing citizenship: U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and London Mayor Boris Johnson

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In September of 2014, I conducted a “Problems of U.S. Citizenship Session” in Montreal, Canada. As usual many of the attendees were in the midst of their OMG (“Oh My God Moment”). The phrase “OMG Moment” is well known. But, what is the “OMG Moment”? I suggest that the “OMG” moment is one of two things. It is either:
1. The moment that those who believe that they are U.S. citizens (or other “U.S. persons”) learn that  they are required (even though they don’t live in the U.S.A.) to obey U.S. tax laws, file U.S. tax and information returns, and are subject to the draconian life altering penalties that are part of membership  in Club U.S.A.; or
2. The moment that they learn for the first time that they may be considered to be a U.S. citizen (or other U.S.person).
This post will focus on those in the second group. That is on:
Those who do NOT believe and have not believed they are U.S. citizens and are learning that they “may be considered to be a U.S. citizen”. 
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