> What's unusual about the US (currently) is that citizens worldwide are considered resident for tax purposes (as other countries would call it I suppose, since it's typically more about residency than citizenship) whatever their living and working arrangement and wherever else tax may be due.
For most people who aren't insanely rich or aren't getting most of their income via a trust fund, this isn't very relevant. You have the foreign income exclusion (somewhere north of $100k now) and the foreign taxes paid deduction to insulate you from playing taxes in the states. The problem becomes when you are making > $100k in a low tax place like Singapore or Dubai, but even then there is a housing deduction that works for most working class people.
> Surely the main reason to do it is because you moved and wish to be free of 'doing taxes' (maybe you moved somewhere where that's not even something you have to think about!) in the US?
It isn't hard to file if you have simply income to consider. I did it by hand for many years, it took around 15-30 minutes a year.
For most people who aren't insanely rich or aren't getting most of their income via a trust fund, this isn't very relevant. You have the foreign income exclusion (somewhere north of $100k now) and the foreign taxes paid deduction to insulate you from playing taxes in the states. The problem becomes when you are making > $100k in a low tax place like Singapore or Dubai, but even then there is a housing deduction that works for most working class people.
> Surely the main reason to do it is because you moved and wish to be free of 'doing taxes' (maybe you moved somewhere where that's not even something you have to think about!) in the US?
It isn't hard to file if you have simply income to consider. I did it by hand for many years, it took around 15-30 minutes a year.