On 11 October 2024, Tax Notes published an article about Trump’s pledge, if elected, to end the “double taxation” of overseas Americans. The article, entitled “Trump Vows to End ‘Double Taxation’ of Overseas Citizens,” is available here (paywall).
The article quotes University of Michigan tax professor Reuven Avi-Yonah as follows:
[Avi-Yonah] believes concerns over double taxation are exaggerated, noting that in addition to the income exclusion limit and tax credit, many U.S. citizens live in countries that have a tax treaty with the United States, and those treaties often provide “tiebreakers” to ensure there isn’t double income taxation.
“Thus, the double taxation argument is spurious,” Avi-Yonah said in an email. “There are many more cases where Americans living overseas enjoy double non-taxation because of sections 911 or 933 than cases of double taxation.”
Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan is credited with the statement “You are entitled to your opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.”
Moynihan was wrong. Based upon the Avi-Yonah quote above, apparently some people are entitled to their own facts. It is a fact – not an opinion – that tax treaties do not protect overseas Americans from double taxtion.
SEAT members Laura Snyder, Karen Alpert, and John Richardson submitted a response to Tax Notes, correcting the false information about tax treaties. The response, entitled “Tax Treaties Do Not Protect Overseas Americans,” was published on 28 October 2024. The response is now available via SSRN (outside a paywall), at this link.
