Stegasaurus_Wrecks t1_j6ktfeb wrote on January 31, 2023 at 1:00 AM

Reply to comment by loverlyone in ELI5: How does citizenship work? Can I (US Citizen) move to the EU and just become a citizen? by _99Percent

>Keep in mind that US citizens living abroad still pay federal income tax to the US.

Which is crazy to me. Do you guys get to vote in US elections and receive social security from the US in the foreign country?

Turnip45 t1_j6kuq7m wrote on January 31, 2023 at 1:09 AM

Americans abroad do get to vote in elections (state and federal).

Note that you only have to pay any federal income tax if you’re earning somewhere above $100,000/year and the taxes in your country of residence are lower than the federal taxes you’d owe, and then you have to pay the difference. So basically fairly well off expats on the Middle East. Almost everyone else is either not earning enough, or is paying more tax in their country of residence than they’d owe Uncle Sam so don’t have to cough up any extra.

There are other asinine things though - you still have to file your taxes, which is a massive PITA from overseas as none of the info you get from your employer is formatted for US taxes, and things like retirement funds are also subject to US taxes (again with the $100k/year threshold. Banking can also be a pain as the U.S. have massive reporting requirements for US account holders that a lot of overseas banks just don’t want to deal with so don’t accept US citizens as customers. Basically the US government views all its overseas citizens as though they’re billionaires trying to hide vast fortunes, rather than the mostly very ordinary folks that they are.

loverlyone t1_j6l6ssb wrote on January 31, 2023 at 2:39 AM

In Italy there is some scheme for ex-pat retirees to transfer their money to Italian banks and pay a one time fee based on the amount.

phiwong t1_j6ku7bn wrote on January 31, 2023 at 1:05 AM

Yes. SS and voting remotely is allowed as long as you remain a US citizen.

Stegasaurus_Wrecks t1_j6l1tad wrote on January 31, 2023 at 2:02 AM

So if you file taxes (and perhaps not owe anything to the US) and are subsequently unemployed in your country of residence, you can claim US social security?

phiwong t1_j6l5n93 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 2:30 AM

You might be a little confused. SS is a retiree payment scheme generally dependent on AGE. It is NOT payment because you are unemployed. There are some unemployment programs but nothing as significant as the SS program and targeted at poverty more than anything else.

Stegasaurus_Wrecks t1_j6nixx5 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 4:21 PM

Ah I see. Yes I misunderstood. Thanks.

loverlyone t1_j6l6kt9 wrote on January 31, 2023 at 2:37 AM

Social security is not the same as unemployment compensation. Some people with disabilities qualify for social security income, also some children whose parents have died and sometimes surviving spouses also qualify, but generally it is not tied to unemployment.