For the foreigners, expats, or those who immigrated to the US a long time ago but relocated back to HK permanently, here's a question I've been thinking about:
Is it worth considering giving up your US citizenship, or is it a crazy idea?
In my case, I moved to the states when I was young, but for the past few years I've relocated back to HK. I'm almost in my 30s, and my career is having a lot of potential here and I have good future prospects in the field I'm working in.
Here are the reasons I've come up with:
1) It's a hassle to file US taxes
2) I have never worked in the US before, so I will never get any social security/benefits whatsoever. You can only get that if you work more than 10 years in the US. Is it worth paying taxes without getting anything in return?
3) Being self-employed, I don't think I get any tax exclusions at all? (not even for the first $100k)
4) It's very likely that I will start a business here, which means that I have to pay a huge amount of taxes to the US (not including HK tax yet).
5) I don't plan on moving back to the US, but there's always the "what if" question. What if I plan to move back to the US after retirement? But there's probably plenty options if I plan to retire elsewhere (canada, australia, etc)
The thought of giving up US citizenship seems kinda scary to me, but I see more pros than cons at this moment.
However, I've always identified myself as an Asian-American. Losing my US citizenship may feel like I lost part of my identity?
And for those who won't want to give up their own US citizenships, is it more of a "pride' kind of thing? What are your reasons?
Please give me your thoughts, especially for those who are thinking about the same thing.
Thanks!