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By OracleGD on 31 December 2008

You just fucking won.

By DixieFlatline on 31 December 2008

No. Mike has just begun to fight.

By Seth on 31 December 2008

Was there any point during the renunciation process where you were required to furnish an SSN (Slave Surveillance Number)?

By SW on 31 December 2008

I am REALLY curious to see how you get on when you *try* to travel…especially overseas!

This is most fascinating.

Maybe a World Passport?

By Ethan Lee Vita on 1 January 2009

I find it interesting and peculiar that your last name was in all caps, but not the rest of your name, nor any part of the other person’s name.

By SW on 1 January 2009

Be sure to post a pic of the 1954 Convention Travel Document!

By Jim Davidson on 2 January 2009

Congratulations on accomplishing this goal. You are now a sovereign individual. The power over you is…you!

By Ethan Lee Vita on 3 January 2009

I would agree or at least I haven’t gone completely off the deep end. Albeit, I haven’t spent much time looking into it either.

I was just pointing out the inconsistency of it though. Instead of your whole name, it was just the last name. And instead of both of your names, it was just your name.

By alex on 7 January 2009

did they also punch through your slovak visa? they shouldn’t have done this. it remains valid even when the passport isn’t anymore. if they did you might run into problems with the slovaks.

By Brice on 23 May 2009

Notice how your paper lists the “Province or County” as “Arizona” and the “State” as “U.S.A”.

Very Interesting…

By billdave on 25 June 2009

Man that’s so cool. i bet every international checkpoint will respect your integrity for renouncing your privileges! I bet that will show all the first world fucks how stateless you are! Did you give away all your American money too? That will really show the bastards! If only you could give away your whiteness too, that would show them! You are changing the world! You rock!

By D on 25 June 2009

A Slovak with a Polish name born in the US: no wonder you’re confused. I bet you speak Czech too. Or is your home language Hungarian?

By Matthew on 26 June 2009

what in the world? how does one go about doing this?

By Sean on 27 June 2009

Mike, as awesome as this is, I’d really suggest that you put some kind of watermark across those images. Not for the purposes of real identity theft, but 419 scammers scower the net to find passport scans like these to use as a convincer via email, so don’t be suprised if “Mike Gogulksi” turns up in someone’s inbox on behalf of the Bank of Nigeria!

By KI4GSZ on 28 June 2009

Mike, I would like to converse with you off this forum re: your epic win. Please send me a quick line how I might contact you to my email
ki4gsz@gmail.com.

I think what you have done is the first sign of hope I have had in some time & I hope to follow your footsteps (not to Slovakia however) & do a disappearing act from this land of little liberties & government control.

Hope to hear from you soon.

By X on 30 July 2009

@Ethan Lee Vita: The family name is in capitals to distinguish it from given names: This differentiates from, say, Hungarian names, where the family name is first.

By x-citizen on 24 September 2009

If you would like a really open discussion, I would suggest you allow anonymous posts (possibly redirected through tor or a similar service).

By Jeremy on 29 September 2009

I’m not sure how you got on that mailing list you complained about, but there it is. Sorry about that. Dalphenia isn’t using a mass mailer, instead lots of CC’s, so you’re probably going to be getting anguished replies for weeks.

I am a little curious to find out how your journey as a stateless person is going. I think it won’t work for people like us, because our governments want us gone. It is a form of state-to-person warfare that we’re up against. So long as we’re alive, citizens or not, we are potential liabilities because the program we’re up against could be exposed and we would be claimants.

Basically, think of MKULTRA (which I’m sure is one of the atrocities you left the US over), mix in some COINTELPRO for flavoring, add military-grade energy/acoustic weaponry and surveillance, and you might have some idea of what we’re going through.

My web site has some info. You can probably read through the official, targets-eyes-only, section on understanding what we’re up against without rolling your eyes in disbelief; you sound like you’re familiar with a lot of this stuff.

Jeremy

By Jessica Sideways on 7 April 2010

I’m wondering…

When I do this, should I have my own certificate of renunciation laminated or framed to show off to people?

Curiously,
Jessica

By Jessica Sideways on 7 April 2010

Mike,

Hmm, well, you just gave me an idea. I’m going to do what Scientology claims to have done with L. Ron Hubbard’s written scriptures, in other words – have it printed on a titanium plate.

I would imagine that it would be more ornate than it looks. But when I do get it done (I’m doing it for different, but equally valid reasons, I’m acquiring another nationality but I’m done with this country, period), I’m also having a party with a cake with it printed on there. ^_^

By Jessica Sideways on 8 April 2010

Ooh, how about turning it into a flag? ;-P

By MIike on 25 April 2010

hey Mike G.

What’s a convention travel document? so let me get this right, when you renounce your US NATIONAL, where you already a citizen of another country?

or is it possible not to belong to any other country then? if so, how do you travel and have you had issues?

By Steve on 27 April 2010

You do realize that you are not free of any country’s authority by renouncing your US Citizenship, do you? US Citizen or not, you are subject to the power of any jurisdiction you are physically located in, regardless of your nationality. So, if you are in the USA, stateless or not, if you are found to be breaking the law in whatever way, you are subject to the usual punishments. The same goes if you are in Slovakia, Germany, Timbuktu, or Zanzibar. Your “stateless” nonsense achieved no freedom for you, only inconvenience. If you live in Slovakia as a US Citizen, the US government has no authority over you, just as it would be if you are stateless – US jurisdiction does not span over Slovakia.
So, apart from effective posing, you have achieved nothing. You can verify that with any international or Schengen/EU law expert. You have not freed yourself from anything, you are under the same authority of the Slovakian state as you were before. Ask any Palestinian refugee who is indeed stateless if they have not been subjected to the authority of the country they are finding refuge… naive man…

By Michael on 27 April 2010

Steve, your comments were as useless as they could have been, what adult wouldn’t know those issues? Plainly put, what adult would think they no longer have to obey the laws of the country they were now in…there is something in your head that is unconnected…you might be a tad irrational.

By Michael on 27 April 2010

Michael, you got balls bud! Good on you!

By Well on 30 April 2010

Well… I prefer obtaining a 2nd citizenship from a non-police state over being stateless, but a lot of this process is just being off the damn grid.

Out of site, out of mind as far as the Police State goes.

By Hans on 18 May 2010

While I know others who did this very thing already in the 1980’s, there is one legal matter that you may not have considered. In addition to the comments of Steve regarding having to obey the laws of whereever you are located, the EU has agreements with the US for repatriation (even of stateless persons) to their former countries of citizenship/origin.

So if a successful refusal of residence/work permit extension was put into effect or deportation was initiated on other grounds (violent demonstration or suspected terrorism) you could be sent back to the US with the support of your current travel document (place of birth) and then the document could be cancelled since you are no longer in Slovakia meaning you would have to get one from the U.S., subject to their approval and then try to immigrate to another country as a stateless person (more difficult than for a citizen of most countries).

So in theory you could end up trapped in the US in the end without any travel document.

By Ed on 19 May 2010

But now it will be easier for the U.S. government to assassinate you…. They are supposed to give U.S. citizens a trial first, although that may end soon, as the Constitution continues to be watered down. It’s open season on foreigners though. They wanted to wack a cleric in Yemen, via drone apparently, but since he was a U.S. citizen, they had to postpone the execution until they could figure out a work-around.

By Jeff on 14 June 2010

@Hans: That could prove quite unpleasant for Mike since he did ask the State of Pennsylvania to consider him an anti-government “terrorist”. I’m sure that put him on a Homeland Security watch list or two and could cause him to be indefinitely detained as an “enemy combatant” according to the Patriot Acts, should he return to US soil. I certainly wish him much success in his endeavors and would hate too hear of such a thing happening.

@Steve: One thing you failed to realize, Mike DID break free of the damned IRS!!! American citizenship means being taxed on WORLDWIDE income. Just about every other nation taxes income generated within their borders. A German, for example, can have investments outside of Germany and not be taxed on them, not so for Americans or US resident aliens!

By Ethan Lee Vita on 14 June 2010

Jeff, I believe the U.S. government reserves the right to tax you 10 years after losing citizenship.

By Expat on 15 June 2010

The 10-Year Shadow Period for taxation after expatriation is no longer in effect if you Expatriated after Jun 18th, 2008.

Expatriate now before the laws change again.

By Expat on 17 June 2010

There are many sources for this Mike.
Some of us do file the proper Expat and IRS paperwork when we leave the USA.

Withers Worldwide
Exit Tax for U.S. Expatriates to Become Law
28 May 2008
New rules will impose tax on expatriates and withholding requirements on trustees
Giving up a U.S. passport will soon carry a steep price tag. A new law passed by the U.S. Congress and sent to the President
will subject certain individuals who expatriate or give up their green cards to immediate tax on the inherent gain on all of their
worldwide assets and a tax on future gifts or bequests made to a U.S. citizen or resident.
Tax practitioners had been made to feel like the boy who cried wolf in recent months as the U.S. Congress repeatedly
threatened to enact legislation aimed at U.S. citizens who expatriate. Congress finally made good on those threats by
unanimously passing the Heroes Earning Assistance and Relief Tax (HEART) Act (the ‘Act’), which provides tax relief for active
duty military personnel and reservists.
The new tax regime applies to certain individuals who relinquish their US citizenship[1] and certain long-term U.S. residents (i.e.,
green card holders) who terminate their U.S. residence (hereafter referred to as ‘expatriates’).[2] The so-called ‘mark-to-market’
tax will apply to the net unrealized gain on the expatriate’s worldwide assets as if such property were sold (the ‘deemed sale’) for
its fair market value on the day before the expatriation date. Any net gain on this deemed sale in excess of US$600,000 will be
taxable.
In addition, trustees of non-grantor trusts[3] must withhold and pay over to the IRS 30 percent of the portion of any distribution
(whether direct or indirect) that would have been taxable to the expatriate had he not expatriated. Failure to withhold the tax
could subject the trustee to direct liability for the unpaid U.S. tax.
The Act will become law when the President signs it, which is expected imminently.
Individuals Covered
The Act applies to any expatriate if that individual (i) has a net worth of US$2 million or more; (ii) has an average net U.S. income
tax liability of greater than US$139,000 for the five year period prior to expatriation; or (iii) fails to certify that he has complied
with all U.S. federal tax obligations for the preceding five years (the ‘covered expatriate’).
The Act contains two exceptions, which are broader than those contained in current law. An individual is not a ‘covered
expatriate’ if he certifies compliance with US federal tax obligations as specified in item (iii) above, and: (i) he was at birth a
citizen of the U.S. and another country, provided that (a) as of the expatriation he continues to be a citizen of, and a tax resident
of, such other country, and (b) he has been a resident of the U.S. for no more than 10 of the 15 taxable years ending with the
taxable year of expatriation; or (ii) he relinquished U.S. citizenship before reaching the age of 18 ½, provided that he was a
resident of the U.S. for not more than 10 taxable years before relinquishment.
In General
The Act consists of three key elements:
1. The mark-to-market tax on the covered expatriate’s worldwide assets;
2. A tax on certain gifts and bequests made by the covered expatriate to any US person; and
3. A repeal of the current so-called 10-year shadow period for covered expatriates.
The Mark-to-Market Tax
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As noted above, the mark-to-market tax will apply to the net unrealized gain on the covered expatriate’s worldwide assets as if
such property were sold for its fair market value on the day before the expatriation date to the extent that the net gain exceeds
US$600,000.[4]
However, the mark-to-market tax will not apply to (i) certain deferred compensation items; (ii) certain specified tax deferred
accounts; or (iii) any interest in a nongrantor trust.
A. Deferred Compensation Items
Under the Act, certain deferred compensation items will be subject to the mark-to-market tax. For purposes of this calculation,
the covered expatriate is deemed to receive the present value of his accrued benefit on the day before the expatriation date. No
early distribution excise tax applies by virtue of this treatment, and appropriate adjustments must be made to subsequent
distributions from the plan to reflect such treatment.
Other qualifying deferred compensation items will not be subject to the mark-to-market tax; however, the payor must deduct and
withhold a tax of 30 percent from any taxable payment to a covered expatriate. A taxable payment is subject to withholding to
the extent it would be included in the gross income of the covered expatriate if such person were a U.S. citizen or resident.
B. Specified Tax Deferred Accounts
Under the Act, the mark-to-market tax will apply to certain specified tax deferred accounts. In the case of any interest in a
specified account held by a covered expatriate on the day before the expatriation date, the expatriate is deemed to receive a
distribution of his entire interest in the account on that date. Appropriate adjustments are made for subsequent distributions to
take into account this treatment. Such deemed distributions are not subject to additional tax.
C. Interests in Non-Grantor Trusts
The Act makes a distinction between grantor trusts and non-grantor trusts. A grantor trust is ignored as a taxable entity for U.S.
federal income tax purposes. The ‘owner’ of a grantor trust must include in computing his personal tax liability the items of
income, deduction and credit that are attributable to the trust. Therefore, in the case of the portion of any trust for which the
covered expatriate is treated as the owner under the grantor trust provisions, the assets held by that portion of the trust are
subject to the mark-to-market tax.
The mark-to-market tax does not generally apply to non-grantor trusts.[5] Rather, in the case of any direct or indirect distribution
from the trust to a covered expatriate, the trustee must deduct and withhold an amount equal to 30 percent of the distribution
portion that would be includable in the gross income of the covered expatriate if he were subject to U.S. income tax. The
covered expatriate waives any right to claim a reduction in withholding under any treaty with the U.S. The Act does not explain
how the withholding will be enforced against a non-U.S. trustee of a trust.
In addition, if the non-grantor trust distributes appreciated property to a covered expatriate, the trust recognizes gain as if the
property were sold to the expatriate at its fair market value.
If a non-grantor trust becomes a grantor trust of which the covered expatriate is treated as the owner, such conversion is treated
as a distribution to the covered expatriate and will trigger the 30 percent withholding tax.
Conversely, if a grantor trust becomes a non-grantor trust after the individual expatriates, it appears that the mark-to-market tax
will apply to assets in the grantor trust, and the 30 percent withholding requirement will not apply to the trust once it becomes a
non-grantor trust. This is an important point because the grantor’s expatriation commonly converts grantor trusts into nongrantor
trusts.
Tax on Gifts and Bequests to U.S. Citizens or Residents
The Act taxes certain ‘covered gifts or bequests’[6] received by a U.S. citizen or resident. The tax, which is assessed at the
highest marginal estate or gift tax rate at the time of the gift or bequest, applies only to the extent that the covered gift or bequest
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exceeds $12,000 during any calendar year. The tax is reduced by the amount of any gift or estate tax paid to a foreign country
with respect to such covered gift or bequest. No allowance appears to exist for the $1 million exemption from U.S. gift tax or the
$2 million exemption from U.S. estate tax normally granted to U.S. persons. Gifts or bequests made to a U.S. spouse or a
qualified charity are not subject to the tax.
In the case of a covered gift or bequest made to a U.S. trust, the tax applies as if the trust were a U.S. citizen, and the trust is
required to pay the tax. In the case of a covered gift or bequest made to a foreign trust, the tax applies to any distribution,
whether from income or corpus, made from such trust to a recipient that is a U.S. citizen or resident in the same manner as if
such distribution were a covered gift or bequest.
Repeal of 10-Year Shadow Period
Current law subjects expatriates to a so-called 10-year shadow period, which results in a covered expatriate being taxed as a
U.S. citizen in any of the 10 years following expatriation in which the expatriate spends 30 days in more in the U.S. In addition,
current law taxes expatriates on all U.S. source income and gain during the shadow period.
Under the Act, individuals who expatriate on or after the date of enactment will not be subject to the shadow period but will
instead be subject to the mark-to-market tax and the tax on gifts and bequests to U.S. citizens and residents.
Effective date
The Act will be effective as of the date of enactment and will therefore not apply to those individuals who expatriate prior to its
enactment. Enactment occurs upon the signature of the President or 10 days after the Act is presented to the President if he
does not veto it.
The White House has not issued an official position on the Act, but given the veto-proof margin by which the Act passed in both
houses of Congress and the Act’s emphasis on active duty members of the military, most commentators believe that enactment
is imminent.
Conclusion
In light of the Act, individuals who are considering expatriation should consider the substantial new tax burdens that this action
will generate. Those persons who expatriate after the enactment date and who are considering making gifts or bequests to U.S.
persons in the future should also review their planning. In addition, trustees should very carefully consider whether trust
beneficiaries are covered expatriates before making any distribution without withholding U.S. tax. Trustees who fail to become
familiar with the new rules do so at their peril.
[1] For purposes of the Act, an individual is treated as having relinquished his citizenship on the earliest of four possible dates:
(i) the date on which he renounces his U.S. nationality before a diplomatic or consular officer of the U.S.; (ii) the date on which
he furnishes to the U.S. Department of State a signed statement of voluntary relinquishment of U.S. nationality confirming the
performance of an expatriating act; (iii) the date on which the U.S. Department of State issues a certificate of loss of nationality;
or (iv) the date on which a U.S. court cancels a naturalized citizen’s certificate of naturalization.
[2] The term ‘long-term resident’ means any individual (other than a U.S. citizen) who is a lawful permanent resident of the U.S.
in at least eight taxable years during the period of 15 taxable years ending with the taxable years during which he ceases to be a
lawful permanent resident or commences to be treated as a resident of a foreign country.
[3] The definition of ‘non-grantor trust’ includes both U.S. and non-U.S. non-grantor trusts.
[4] An individual may elect to defer payment of the tax imposed on the deemed sale of property until the return is due for the
taxable year in which he disposes of such property, but interest will apply for the period during which the tax is deferred. This
irrevocable election is made on a property-by-property basis and requires the individual to provide adequate security with respect
Withers Worldwide – Exit Tax for U.S. Expatriates to Become Law Page 3 of 4
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to such property and a waiver of treaty rights that would preclude the assessment or collection of the tax.
[5] Under certain circumstances, the mark-to-market tax may arguably apply to non-grantor trusts (i.e., where the non-grantor
trust holds shares in a passive foreign investment company).
[6] Defined as any property acquired (i) by gift directly or indirectly from an individual who was a covered expatriate at the time of
such acquisition; or (ii) directly or indirectly by reason of the death of an individual who was a covered expatriate. The definition
excludes (i) any property shown as a taxable gift on a timely filed gift tax return by the covered expatriate, and (ii) any property
included in the gross estate of the covered expatriate for U.S. estate tax purposes and shown on a timely filed estate tax return
of the estate of the covered expatriate.
links to related information
Authors
Kurt Rademacher
DD: +852 3711 1609
Email me
Jay H. Rubinstein
DD: +1 203 974 0327
Email me
Erik X. Wallace
DD: +44 (0)20 7597 6280
Email me
Kenny Foo
DD: +41 (0)22 593 7705
Email me
Mimi Hutton
DD: +852 3711 1611
Email me
Related practice areas
Personal

Tax

US citizens & residents

US clients living in the UK
© Withers 2007 – 2008
Withers Worldwide – Exit Tax for U.S. Expatriates to Become Law Page 4 of 4
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By Expat on 17 June 2010

Others:

Exit Tax, Redux

June 11, 2008
Exit Tax, Redux
In a recent post, I wrote that the exit tax legislation recently passed by both houses of Congress (and now sent to President Bush for his signature) made U.S. citizens “slaves on the plantation.”

Perhaps I overstated my point. In most respects, the new law actually makes it easier for many U.S. citizens and long-term permanent residents to sever all tax obligations to the U.S. government, forever. It also makes it relatively simple for persons who became U.S. citizens through an accident of birth (e.g., by having a U.S. parent or being born on U.S. soil) to end their U.S. tax obligations.

So long as you don’t have unrealized capital gains over US$600,000 (including gains in most types of pension and retirement plans), this process of “expatriation” is now much simpler than under previous law. Essentially, all you need to do is to:

Obtain passport and residence in another country or countries;
Appear before a U.S. consular officer to swear an oath of renunciation or relinquishment of U.S. citizenship; and
File a relatively simple form with the to let it know you’re no longer a U.S. citizen.
The procedure differs slightly for long-term residents than for U.S. citizens. And, if you’re a long-term resident who is not a U.S. citizen, you can actually “opt out” of the exit tax. To do so, you must become resident for tax purposes in a foreign country that has a tax treaty with the United States. You must also inform the IRS of your intention not to waive the benefits of the tax treaty applicable to that country.

This process is much easier than dealing with the previous law, which imposed an “alternative tax regime” for 10 years after a person deemed “tax motivated” gave up citizenship or long-term residence.

However, if you’re a U.S. citizen with unrealized gains over US$600,000, and you don’t want to sell those assets and pay the tax on them before you expatriate, the exit tax truly is onerous. Its provisions on unrealized gains in retirement plans are particularly unfair. But for anyone else who might wish to expatriate, the new provisions are a breath of fresh air in the sordid 40-year history of anti-expatriation legislation.

One thing is certain. The anti-expatriation laws are unlikely to become any more lenient in the future. Moreover, capital gains taxes are almost certain to increase in an Obama administration. That means exit tax on gains—realized or not—will go up as well.

The clock is ticking for would-be expatriates. If you’re seriously considering expatriation, now is probably the best time to begin your planning.

Copyright © 2008 by Mark Nestmann

By Expat on 17 June 2010

For IRS documents search for Form 8854 Instructions. You will see there is no 10-year reporting requirement after June 16, 2008.

Read Part B of Form 8854 Instructions — For Persons Who Expatriated After June 16, 2008.

By Neo on 5 July 2010

Why didn’t you just a Certificate of Non-Citizen Nationality. You still hold you Nationality but you are not a US** Citizen. The same as being a stateless person in the view of the Federal United States.
http://famguardian.org/Subjects/LawAndGovt/Citizenship/WhyANational.pdf
Good luck!

By Roy on 5 July 2010

@ Neo – Win
@ Mike – I think this might be an epic fail

By Neo on 5 July 2010

IP Address – LOL
anyways I would read the whole 137 paged document and maybe do a little more research on what they are saying. There position is no of LAW! Your ripping on it cause is uses underlined bold text? I’m pretty sure its used to help people see and understand key statements. I’ll leave up to the reader of this page to make this decision for them selves. I’ve managed to get a endorsement on my USA Passport as a Non-Citizen National and in doing so I am NOT subject to vertically all Federal Law and I am a Nonresident Alien with the IRS. I’m a free man on the land and protected my the Constitution the these unites states of America!!

By Neo on 5 July 2010

one of LAW*!

By Neo on 10 July 2010

I’ve post a response a couple of days ago and still no response back by you Mike. I’m wanting to know whats running through your mind. Have you read the document that I’ve posted in its entirety? Maybe you might have realized what you’ve done might have been to the most extreme. One must know and establish one’s relation of himself and the government. A good place to start off researching and everyone in this site is the Family Guardian. http://famguardian.org/Subjects/Freedom/Freedom.htm
Again I wish you luck in your endeavor and is hoping for a response back in the very near future.