If America was a woman, right about now she will have every right to feel used, unwanted and abused. A new report is projecting that wealthy Americans – those who received the most financial benefits from the tax laws and tax loopholes that allowed them to become wealthy – these people are projected to abandon America at a record pace this year.
Startling new data from Uncle Sam show that defections by Americans are expected to double this year, largely to avoid any stiff tax bills resulting from the proposed 55 percent hike on the rich — as well as the likely expiration on Dec. 31 of the Bush era tax cuts.
As many as 8,000 US citizens are projected by immigration officials to renounce in 2012, or about 154 a week, versus 3,805 in 2011, or about 73 per week.
“High-net-worth individuals are making decisions that having a US passport just isn’t worth the cost anymore,” said Jim Duggan, a lawyer at Duggan Bertsch, which specializes in protecting assets of the wealthy.
“They’re able to do what they do from any place in the world, and they’re choosing to do it from places with much lower tax rates,” he said.
If this is not a slap in the face of a nation that, in many cases, made these people rich, then I don’t know what is.
