2016-07-28
Today the Treasury Department published the names of individuals who renounced their U.S. citizenship or terminated their long-term U.S. residency (“expatriated”) during the second quarter of 2016.
The number of published expatriates for the quarter was 508. The number of published expatriates for the first two quarters of 2016 has been 1,666 (1,158 + 508). For a discussion of how the IRS compiles the data, see this post.
We continue to believe that the IRS is likely missing a significant number of names from its quarterly publication of expatriates. During the second quarter of 2016, the FBI added 2,081 individuals who renounced their U.S. citizenship to the NICS index. Coupled with the first quarter number of 1,281, the FBI has added 3,362 former U.S. citizens to the NICS index this year - over double the number on the IRS list this year. The IRS list is supposed to include U.S. citizens who have lost their U.S. citizenship as well as long-term green card holders who have terminated their green cards. The IRS number is lower than the FBI number, when we would expect it to be significantly higher than the FBI number.
Below are two graphs which reflect the latest expatriation data. The first graph shows the quarterly number of published expatriates since 2008. The second graph shows the quarterly average of published expatriates per year through the second quarter of 2016.
For our prior coverage of expatriation, see all posts tagged Expatriation.
