Number of Americans Renouncing Citizenship Remains at Record Highs

America may still be the greatest country on earth to many, but a growing number of its citizens are seeing things differently.

An article over at Fortune.com details that renunciation of citizenship on the part of U.S. citizens remains on the rise. The article reports that 504 people renounced last quarter, up from the 461 who renounced during the second quarter of 2015. Moreover, 1,158 Americans decided to hand in their passports during the first quarter of this year, which means that, all told, renunciation rates are about 15 times what they were ten years ago.

So, what gives?

Experts say the overriding reason for the rise in renunciations is related to taxes (what else?). Fortune quotes attorney Max Reed, a ���cross-border��� tax attorney who works out of Vancouver, Canada, who says that the Americans who come to his office with the intention of renouncing ���are tired of the hassle and headache and expense of complying with US tax rules. Most of them are U.S. citizens who���ve lived abroad for a long-time.��� According to Reed, he sees an average of two American citizens per week come into his office, looking to give up their citizenship.

For a lot of these people, compounding the desire to split entirely from the U.S. has been the effects of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, or FATCA. The 2010 legislation demands that Americans living outside the U.S. file annual reports on bank accounts they maintain outside of the country, and the non-U.S. institutions are themselves required to disclose asset information on those people they believe to be U.S. citizens.

While it may be difficult for many of us to relate to the problems of the truly wealthy, I can see how the heavy tax burden and increased financial scrutiny to which America���s most well-heeled citizens are now subjected might permanently drive some from our shores.

By Robert G. Yetman, Jr. Editor At Large