An American Canadian writes a letter to President Obama [View all]
and sends a copy to Forbes.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwood/2014/08/15/dear-mr-president-why-im-leaving-america/?utm_source=followingimmediate&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20140815
Dear Mr. President, Why I'm Leaving America
I received a copy of this letter, and think it is worth reproducing in full:
Dear Mr. President,
I am writing with a heavy heart as I, my husband, and our daughter are all seriously contemplating giving up our U.S. citizenship. We are doing this not to avoid paying U.S. taxes but because we strongly object to a system that is blatantly discriminatory and unfair to law-abiding Americans living outside the country. In addition, it has become too expensive, too difficult, and frankly, too frightening, to try to comply with all of the tax filing requirements that now apply to citizens living abroad.
My husband is 70 years old and I am 69. I was born in St. Louis, my husband in Denver, and our daughter in Toronto. When my husband graduated with a PhD in history from the University of Pennsylvania, and I with a law degree from Villanova, both in 1971, he received a job offer to teach U.S. history to Canadian university students. I began teaching law at the same university. We never expected to stay in Canada but, as you know, life is often unpredictable and we have now happily lived here for 43 years. I retired many years ago and my husband more recently.