Tax (Irish/US) Dual Citizenship

K

KBIreland

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There are a lot of "accidental" US citizens in Ireland in that their parents (who are both Irish) worked in America for a period of time and were able to make their Irish born child a US citizen despite the child possibly never having stepped foot in America.

This person now has dual citizenship with Ireland and USA.

They marry an Irish person (sole citizenship) and eventually they die and leave all their assets to their spouse.

Can the US tax authorities tax the surviving spouse?
 
I'm not familiar with the estate issue. I do know that the CRS (Common Reporting Standard) has 'unearthed' a lot of U.S. citizens by birth who are now being asked to file U.S. individual tax returns. These individuals may never have lived in the U.S. other than as children (and very young children at that) and this creates a tax nexus under U.S. law. The CRS is a massive information exchange between tax authorities of different countries

I recall reading somewhere that the current U.K. Prime Minister got whacked with a large tax bill as he was born in the US even though he was U.K. tax resident for many years.
 
If you are an accidental US citizen but have no economic interests in the US and no ambition to go there, I would say just ignore it. Afterall, what can the do - drag you to court here?
 
but the U.S. never joined the CRS they have their own standard called FATCA whereby they force every other state to deliver info about U.S. citizens living abroad and theoretically they are supposed to do the same (give foreign tax authorities info about their citizens living in the U.S.) but this doesn't happen, while the CSR is two ways FATCA is one way. This makes the U.S. one of the most secure tax havens in the world, of course it won't work for U.S> citizens). As JPD says just ignore it or give up the U.S. passport (it will cost a few thousand €€€ to get rid of the U.S passport). Didn't Boris Johnson do the same two years ago so he doesn't have to file a U.S. tax return anymore ?
 
I think it costs $ 2,500 - $ 5,000 to go through the formalities of ditching a US citizenship.

I don't think they are going to go after Joe Soap unless there is a massive tax to be recouped - Boris was probably used as an example to frighten others into coughing up

There is an upside to being an American citizen and paying your tax - you can vote in US Presidential elections
 
If you were born in the US, it will always be shown on your passport and driving licence. This will limit the choices you have in making future investments...as stockbrokers won't take you on as a client due to reporting obligations.

Not sure if the IRS has a claim on assets in Ireland. I know there is a $60,000 threshold on assets owned in the US going to a foreign spouse. This too is largely ignored.

The US is one of two countries in the world that taxes you on citizenship and not residency. It causes people a lot of hassle each year. There are a lot of people, especially PAYE workers who simply ignore their obligations. The IRS have enough on their plate collecting taxes from people living in the US as it is
 
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