Dual citizens weigh Trump, taxes in decision to renounce U.S. citizenship

Julie Ireton,  Robyn Bresnahan, CBC News, RCI

(Pexels photo)

Giving up U.S. passport is a big step, but more and more are taking it.

Ella Heyder is bracing for a breakup, even though she already moved out decades ago.

She’s contemplating cutting ties altogether with her home country, the United States of America, and President Donald Trump.

I’m quite disturbed by what’s happening in the U.S. under Trump’s regime. It’s a fascist, imperialist regime, Heyder said as she and others waved signs outside the American Embassy in Ottawa during what has become a twice-weekly protest against the current U.S. administration.

It makes me a little bit ashamed. It makes me feel very sad, she said.

For decades, Heyder has carried two passports. While she grew up in Norfolk, Va., Canada has her loyalty, and she figures a permanent split is inevitable.

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I’ve been thinking about it for a number of years, and motivated in the past 100 per cent by the fact that I’ve had to pay thousands of dollars to an accountant to file my U.S. taxes. But now I have an additional motivation, she said.

It’s the Trump factor.

I align more with Canadian values and I’d be fine with not having an American citizenship, Heyder said.

She’s not alone. More dual citizens are contemplating making the same move, according to Alex Marino, leader of the U.S. tax practice at Moody Tax Law in Calgary.

In recent years, Marino says he’s seen a 40-60 per cent increase in requests from those wanting to surrender what he calls one of the most coveted passports in the world.

Individuals [are] not only inquiring [about giving] up their U.S. citizenship, but actually taking the plunge and giving it up, said Marino.

The American government reports such renunciations quarterly, posting the names of individuals who’ve surrendered their citizenship.

Tax implications

It’s not a straightforward process. The U.S. and Eritrea are the only two countries in the world that tax based on citizenship rather than residency.

Regardless of whether a dual citizen has ever lived or worked in the States, they still need to file annual tax returns to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and in some cases pay American taxes on Canadian investments such as tax-free savings accounts or registered education savings plans. (The tax-free status of these Canadian plans isn’t recognized by the IRS.)

Marino said for many, these strict tax rules are just one reason for the increasing interest in renouncing U.S. citizenship.

Trump won the election in 2024. It’s been a bit of a tumultuous situation between the U.S. and Canada, he said. That sometimes is the straw that broke the camel’s back.

High cost, long wait to renounce citizenship

The U.S. State Department recently announced that starting in mid-April, it will reduce the fee to renounce U.S. citizenship from $2,350 US to $450.

Along with the cost, renunciation requires a brief interview in which the dual citizen must attest that they understand the implications of their decision and take the oath of renunciation.

But the wait for one of those interviews at the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa, or at a U.S. consulate in Toronto or Vancouver, is from six months to well over a year.

There is a quicker path, Marino noted.

We help and will send anywhere from about 30 to 50 Canadians a month abroad for a quicker interview to renounce, he said. If you’re interested in a ‘renunciation vacation,’ we can get it done in two to three months.

Marino’s firm charges clients between $10,000 and $15,000 to assist in a renunciation, and he says it’s wise to seek professional guidance.

Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as just sliding your passport under the embassy door, he said. If you don’t renounce the right way, there is an exit tax on your entire net worth.

‘I’m a very proud Canadian’

I chose Canada, said Jackie Lyons in a video recorded outside the American Embassy in Ottawa on the day she renounced her U.S. citizenship in January 2023.

I have not looked back. I’m really, really glad that I did it, she told CBC in a recent interview.

Lyons, who grew up on Long Island, N.Y., came to Canada in 1989 for love.

I married the first Canadian I ever met, she said.

For her, the tipping point was the Women’s March in Washington in 2017, shortly after Trump was elected the first time.

I just felt like I was stepping back in time, in terms of what women were concerned about and what women had to still fight for, and that was an awakening for me, Lyons recalled.

That was the beginning of the seed. I think I needed to distance myself in terms of having citizenship.

Since renouncing her U.S. citizenship, Lyons has crossed the border with her Canadian passport that states she was born in the U.S., without incident.

She says she has no regrets.

I’m a very proud Canadian, and I cannot really remember ever feeling that way about the U.S., she said.

Keeping the right to vote

Joel Westheimer, a professor of education at the University of Ottawa, grew up in New York City but has lived in Canada for 23 years.

His work often focuses on democratic ideals in education, and he’s no fan of Trump or his proposal to make Canada the 51st state.

But U.S. citizenship has a different meaning for Westheimer, whose mother was born in Germany and survived the Holocaust. Ruth Westheimer later moved to the United States where she became a renowned sex therapist and talk show host. She died in 2024.

Hitler stripped Jews of citizenship, so I think about citizenship in regard to that, Joel Westheimer said. She would probably be horrified if I renounced my citizenship, even under these conditions…. I think she would want me to maintain that attachment.

Hanging on to his U.S. citizenship also means Westheimer can continue to vote in presidential elections.

I vote in every election I can, he said.

Ella Heyder said keeping that right to vote is the one thing holding her back from renouncing her U.S. citizenship.

I will no longer be allowed to vote, I will no longer be allowed to phone my congressional representatives, which I do at least several times a week now. So yeah, I have to weigh all that.

This article is republished from RCI.