Citizens of the United States living overseas of working age are required to file a U.S. Internal Revenue Service tax form every year, and if they have incomes, may have to pay U.S. income taxes, on top of any levies they also face in their place of residence.
Michael Wardell, 44, who has lived in Japan on four separate occasions for a combined 15 years, is trying to eliminate that requirement. It is one of the promises in his election campaign for the Republican nomination for the seventh congressional district in Missouri. The election will be held Aug. 3 and if he wins, he will run for a representative seat from the state in the Nov. 2 congressional poll.
"The first and foremost (reason to eliminate the income tax requirement for U.S. citizens abroad) is, although tax treaties are in place that address the potential for double-taxation, the citizen is getting nothing in return," Wardell, a marine veteran who now lives in Missouri, said in an e-mail interview.