Tina Turner Renounces US Citizenship: A Tax and Privacy Issue?

Well, it would seem that the curse of the Laffer Curve and the welfare state has not only affected the French, American celebrity Tina Turner has reportedly renounced her US citizenship to become a Swiss.

From the International Man,

Pop legend Tina Turner has announced that she will give up her US citizenship and become a citizen of Switzerland.

The most interesting part of this story is that she is renouncing her US citizenship even though she was not required to. Both Switzerland and the US allow dual citizenship.

It was her choice to renounce, and that choice has serious costs.

Turner, whose net worth likely meets the criteria to be stuck with the so-called US Exit Tax (for those with a net worth of more than $2 million.) This means that upon expatriation, all of her worldwide assets will be taxed as if they were sold at fair market value – a steep price indeed.

Other factors must have played a role in her decision to renounce and incur such costs when she was not otherwise forced to.

Turner has not explicitly explained why she is renouncing her US citizenship – nor would she be wise to, which would only attract even more scrutiny. She probably weighed the pros and cons of keeping her US passport, which offered her limited benefits and immense liabilities.

It probably was not tax related, Switzerland itself is a high tax environment for its citizens.

Perhaps an important feature of Switzerland for her is its respect for privacy.

Contrast that to the US government's blatant disdain for privacy. Under the pretexts of the various never-ending "wars" (drugs, terrorism, organized crime, tax evasion, etc.) the US government has essentially destroyed privacy and often treats its citizens as if they were prison inmates.

Tina Turner’s apparent quiescence on the reasons for her actions has obviously meant to suppress controversies from the politically correct crowd.

She perhaps learned from the recent experience of golf superstar, Phil Mickelson, who publicly hinted of leaving California for another state, due to tax reasons, that has drawn unnecessary ruckus from the sanctimonious left.

Obviously these would seem as symptoms of the developing social strains from partly from tax hikes brought about by Obamacare, the Fiscal Cliff deal and others, where media only sees the actions of the ‘celebrities’.

Yet all these politicization; expanded intrusions and expropriation of private property, increases the risks of political instability, artificially booming financial assets from inflationism, notwithstanding