Boris Johnson listed among those who renounced their American citizenship

The US treasury department has released a comprehensive list containing details of all those who renounced their American citizenship last year. Among them is Boris Johnson who was born in New York when his parents worked in the States and ranked 5,411 in the list

People from different quarters are wondering if his decision to renounce his US citizenship is a ploy to exonerate himself from the current political situation in the States under the leadership of President Donald Trump, though the decision not be unconnected to America’s Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

Boris announced in 2014 that an heavy tax was imposed on him by the US government after he sold his house in Islington, north London which he paid later on, despite seeing it as ‘absolutely outrageous’.

It was revealed that the American government’s resolve to crackdown on finding out how much dual citizens is forcing a lot of people to renounce their US citizenship.

As dual nationals are liable for tax bills in both countries Boris’ decision was most likely an effort to rid himself of a sizeable bill.

During a visit to New York in 2014, he told National Public Radio that it would be hard to renounce his citizenship: ‘The great United States of America does have some pretty tough rules, you know.

‘You may not believe this but if you’re an American citizen, America exercises this incredible doctrine of global taxation, so that even though tax rates in the UK are far higher and I’m mayor of London, I pay all my tax in the UK and so I pay a much higher proportion of my income in tax than I would if I lived in America.

‘The United States comes after me, would you believe it … for capital gains tax on the sale of your first residence which is not taxable in Britain, but they’re trying to hit me with some bill, can you believe it?’