Perhaps a tax on renouncing??


A total of 508 Americans renounced their citizenship in the second quarter of the year, according to information published by the Internal Revenue Service, putting the country on track to lose at least the second highest number of citizens on record.

That brings the total number of expatriates for the year to 1,666, according to data published on Friday, just below the 1,795 who renounced during the same period in 2015. Yet because the number of expatriates tends to increase toward the end of the year, 2016 could still set another record for the number of Americans it sends packing. A total of 4,279 left over the duration of 2015, which was the third consecutive year to set a new annual record.

Tax experts have suggested the uptick is due, in part, to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. The 2010 law was aimed at forcing nonresident citizens, estimated to be between 2 and 7 million, to report more of their income for tax collection. Expatriation increased in subsequent years, and 2015 saw a 560 percent increase in departures over the highest number seen by the Bush administration.

In a move intended to slow the exodus and rake in more cash for the feds, the administration in 2014 increased the fee to leave from $450 to $2,350. That means the government has collected $3,915,100 from renunciations so far in 2016.

The Treasury Department began collecting expatriation information in 1996 as part of the Health Insurance Accountability Act. The data does not distinguish between green card and passport holders, and does not provide descriptive information beyond the names of those who have left.