The U.S. tax system applies to its citizens’ worldwide incomes and estates, whether those citizens live in the U.S. or abroad. Fully escaping the U.S. tax system requires renouncing U.S. citizenship, and in recent years a growing number have done so. Using administrative tax microdata, I provide new descriptive information about the population of individuals who have renounced U.S. citizenship. The typical renouncer had long lived abroad, was slightly wealthier than the typical American, and reported no or little net U.S. tax liability prior to their renunciation. Combined with information on the foreign jurisdictions where renouncers reside, the evidence suggests that most recent renunciations are a result of increasing compliance costs of maintaining U.S. citizenship while living abroad, and not a response to U.S. tax liability.

美国税收制度适用于其公民在全球范围内的收入和财产，无论这些公民居住在美国还是国外。完全逃避美国税收制度需要放弃美国公民身份，近年来越来越多的人这样做了。使用行政税收微观数据，我提供了有关放弃美国公民身份的个人人口的新描述信息。典型的弃权者长期居住在国外，比典型的美国人稍微富有一点，并且在弃权之前没有或很少报告美国的净纳税义务。结合弃权者居住的外国司法管辖区的信息，证据表明，最近的弃权是居住在国外时维持美国公民身份的合规成本增加的结果，而不是对美国纳税义务的回应。