Do kids have a choice NOT to take US citizenship?

[TheRealCanadian]

My friend has never resided in the US and has no interest in claiming US citizenship. So, is he a USC or not?

He is.

[qupte]Could the IRS come after him for a lifetime's worth of unfiled tax returns? Could he get into trouble for not having registered for the draft, as a young man? During almost his entire life the idea that he could possibly be a USC had never crossed his mind. I can imagine the OP's kids finding themselves in this state, someday.[/QUOTE]

Perhaps, but to be honest they're not going to bother. It's exceptionally unlikely that any agency will care unless he claims to be a US citizen, and even then he's not the first US citizen to not realize this until later in life.

 

[WBH]

I can imagine the OP's kids finding themselves in this state, someday.

The issue is not about their kids who can have a good exsued based upon mistake of teh fact rather than
ignorance of law if they do not fulfill their US citizen's obligation if they do not know they are US citizens.
The issue is that the OP who is a US citizen, knowingly let their kids not know their US citizenship.

If there is no law require parents to notify their kids that their kids are US citizen,I suggest to the OP
never talk about it. If kids beware aware on their own, try to avoid the topic as much as possible.

I doubt there is any law that requires parents to inform their kids of this.

 

[WBH]

I can imagine the OP's kids finding themselves in this state, someday.

The issue is not about their kids who can have a good exsued based upon mistake of teh fact rather than
ignorance of law if they do not fulfill their US citizen's obligation if they do not know they are US citizens.
The issue is that the OP who is a US citizen, knowingly let their kids not know their US citizenship.

If there is no law require parents to notify their kids that their kids are US citizen,I suggest to the OP
never talk about it. If kids beware aware on their own, try to avoid the topic as much as possible.

I doubt there is any law that requires parents to inform their kids of this. and I don't think it is a crime
if the parents lies to their kids and simply tell their kids "You are not US citizens". Such a lie is not that different from any others lies in a family like "I have no more money so don't ask me to
buy you a nintendo" when he does have money

 

[palmer2johnsont]

Most countries--if they don't allow dual citizenships--specifically have laws set up so that minors (the age you're considered a minor in that specific country) can hold dual passports. At the time of adulthood, the country forces the new adult to choose which way they go.

The child automatically becomes a US citizen. Whether you want them to get a passport or not is up to you, but there's no harm in doing so. In fact, for the most part, you can get away with holding multiple passports because your former country of citzenship won't even bother with it.

- Many kids don't travel abroad before age 18

that's news to me.

 

[Jackolantern]

that's news to me.

Most adult Americans haven't EVER left the US in their entire lives.

Of course, naturalized citizens are much more likely to have left the US since immigrating. But for those who have to cross the Atlantic or Pacific ocean to visit their original country, many of them don't bother to bring the children because of the expense. And a large percentage of those who got their green cards via asylum haven't left the US in years because they have no intention of visiting the original country, and visiting elsewhere can be a hassle due to not having a passport.

 

[Jackolantern]

There's kind of a grey area, isn't there? I have a friend aged 80, who was the foreign-born child of a USC and meets the criteria to apply for a US passport. My friend didn't know his dad was a USC until he was an adult, and didn't know he himself qualified as a USC until much more recently, when in fact I pointed it out to him, as a result of reading this forum then looking up the rules.

My friend has never resided in the US and has no interest in claiming US citizenship. So, is he a USC or not? In some sense, yes he is, but it doesn't seem meaningful. Could the IRS come after him for a lifetime's worth of unfiled tax returns? Could he get into trouble for not having registered for the draft, as a young man? During almost his entire life the idea that he could possibly be a USC had never crossed his mind. I can imagine the OP's kids finding themselves in this state, someday.

First the IRS would have to prove that he is a USC. That would involve proof that his father lived in the US for the required number of years before your friend was born. Such century-old proof is probably more difficult for the IRS to find than it would be for your friend to find. After all is said and done, given the various treaties and exemptions available your friend probably wouldn't owe any significant amount to the IRS, and maybe nothing at all.

 

[anxiouscdn2]

First the IRS would have to prove that he is a USC. That would involve proof that his father lived in the US for the required number of years before your friend was born. Such century-old proof is probably more difficult for the IRS to find than it would be for your friend to find. After all is said and done, given the various treaties and exemptions available your friend probably wouldn't owe any significant amount to the IRS, and maybe nothing at all.

I agree that the risk of being pursued by the IRS is probably insignificant. However, just as a matter of information, my friend is a native of a country that had no tax treaty with the US until the 1980s. I guess the IRS has a statute of limitations that would make this moot at this point anyway. However, although double taxation is now mostly not a risk, that certainly wasn't true in the past, and I suspect there are countries for which it's not true now.

 

[Bobsmyth]

Has your friend ever applied for a SSN or a TIN? If no, chances are that the IRS wouldn't have any record on him.

 

[Jackolantern]

I agree that the risk of being pursued by the IRS is probably insignificant. However, just as a matter of information, my friend is a native of a country that had no tax treaty with the US until the 1980s. I guess the IRS has a statute of limitations that would make this moot at this point anyway. However, although double taxation is now mostly not a risk, that certainly wasn't true in the past, and I suspect there are countries for which it's not true now.

Even in the absence of tax treaties, there are exemptions available that would exempt the first approx. $90K* of income earned in the country where he resides from US taxation, and credits that allow offsetting the tax paid to the foreign government against the US taxation. So it's unlikely he would owe much, unless he had a very high income and/or lived in a low-tax country.


*this amount changes almost every year -- it likely was much lower 60 years ago when your friend was a young man