Record Number Of Americans Renounce U.S. Citizenship In 2016; 2,200% Surge During Obama Reign

Obama warned everyone back in 2009 that “elections have consequences.”  Now, eight years later, we learn that apparently the “consequences” of running around the country for nearly a decade threatening to raise taxes, “spread the wealth around” and pursue any number of other socialist policies are a record number of people renouncing their U.S. citizenship.

Per a post from the International Tax Blog, the U.S. Treasury recently published the names of individuals who renounced their U.S. citizenship or terminated their long-term U.S. residency (“expatriated”) during the fourth quarter of 2016 and it shattered all previous records.

The number of published expatriates for 4Q 2016 was 2,365, bringing the total number for 2016 to 5,411, setting a new all-time quarterly and annual record.  By comparison, the number of expatriates for 2016 reflects a 26% increase over 2015 and a 58% increase over 2014 (3,415).

Taking a more granular look at the past 20 years illustrates the staggering surge in the number of published expatriates that “coincidentally” corresponds with Obama’s election in 2008.  In fact, the 2016 list is over 22x larger than 2008, the year just before Obama moved into the White House. 

As the New York Times notes, perhaps the most notable citizenship renouncement came from British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson who gained fame as one of the most vocal supporters of the Brexit referendum and an early critic of Trump describing him as “out of his mind” and of “a quite stupefying ignorance.”

Boris Johnson, Britain’s colorful and blustery foreign secretary, who is perhaps best known for his leading role in campaigning for his country’s departure from the European Union, has given up his American citizenship, a United States Treasury Department list showed Wednesday.

Born in New York, Mr. Johnson, 52, held dual citizenship until last year. He had long complained about having to pay taxes in the United States even though he was 5 when he last lived there. Unlike most countries, the United States taxes nationals who live abroad on their worldwide income.

Mr. Johnson, a Conservative, has not been known for his diplomatic skills. His relations with Donald J. Trump took a blow in December 2015, when he accused Mr. Trump, then a presidential candidate, of being “out of his mind” and of “a quite stupefying ignorance” that made him unfit for the presidency.

Guess we can add this to the “Obama legacy”…