2016-02-05
Today the Treasury Department published the names of individuals who renounced their U.S. citizenship or terminated their long-term U.S. residency (“expatriated”) during the fourth quarter of 2015.
The number of published expatriates for the quarter was 1,058, bringing the total number of published expatriates in 2015 to 4,279. The total for the year breaks last year’s record number of 3,415 published expatriates. The number of expatriates for 2015 is a 25% increase over 2014 and a 42% increase over 2013 (2,999). For a discussion of how the IRS compiles the data, see these posts: missing names, source of data.
The escalation of offshore penalties over the last 20 years is likely contributing to the increased incidence of expatriation.
We have been tracking expatriation since 2009 based on the information that the IRS has published quarterly. Until now, we have not had a reliable source of expatriation data for years prior to 1998. We recently discovered a report published in 1995 by the Joint Committee on Taxation titled “Issues Presented By Proposals To Modify The Tax Treatment Of Expatriation.” The report contains a table (on page 7) with the number of individuals who have renounced their U.S. citizenship each year from 1962 to 1994 (based on State Department data).
We have created several graphs which reflect the latest expatriation data. The graph above is based solely on IRS data and shows the number of published expatriates per year since 1998. The graphs below show data going back to 1962 by incorporating State Department data.
For our prior coverage of expatriation, see all posts tagged Expatriation.