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Comment by wil421 | Hacker News Reader

Why does it matter? My brother in law lived in Costa Rica for 10+ years. He never had to pay a single bit of tax. I know a few people in Europe with higher salaries and they have never paid a cent either.

I’ve yet to meet anyone who lived overseas and had to pay the IRS.

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> He never had to pay a single bit of tax. I know a few people in Europe with higher salaries and they have never paid a cent either.

He didn't say pay taxes; he said file taxes. Every year I have to tell the US government how much I made, and then explain why I don't owe them any money (i.e., already paid tax on it to the UK). It's a stressful hassle even if you don't end up owing anything.

I fully understand.

I’m asking if you ever had to pay taxes? Plenty of people complain about filing paper work but I’ve never met anyone who owed anything.

I pay taxes to the US (and not to the country I live in) on the small amount of passive income generated in accounts located in the US. I'm not 100% sure if this is the Right Thing to do or not, but it seems fair. But my taxes would be a lot simpler and less stressful if I only had to report this income (and on years where this was 0, not report anything at all).

I had to pay. I have lived abroad for several decades and when I decided to do some independent contracting I realized that now I have to pay social security. Also, while I generally pay more taxes than an American, every once in a while there is a tax break that I get that Americans don't. In that case I have to pay that amount to the US.

You end up paying quite a bit to owe 0, because it's not easy to find a competent accountant who can, say, understand your Italian tax returns, and then file in the US based on those.

"I’ve yet to meet anyone who lived overseas and had to pay the IRS."

I've met several, and can assure you they exist.

living and making a living are two different things-- when you make over a certain amount.

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