Policy

Surge in Americans Taking U.K. Citizenship Over Taxes

Yes, Britain is now a tax haven for Americans

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The number of people giving up their US citizenship to become British has surged thanks to complex tax rules introduced by the American tax authorities.

 London-based American lawyers, who specialise in tax and immigration, report a threefold increase over the last five years in the number of American citizens who are giving up their citizenship—a process known as "renunciation".

Across the world 1,781 Americans renounced their citizenship in 2011 compared with just 231 in 2008, when US tax laws changed, although it remains unknown how many are adopting British rather than any other nationality.