Ah, the bastards are ahead of you. The latest additions to the Patriot Act makes it difficult as of 1/1/2009 to move assets outside the US. If the government thinks you are changing citizenship to avoid paying taxes, they are prepared to use any number of means to get to you.
They have shut the exits.
how east german of them.
You move the money FIRST, Publius. Then you leave. THEN you tell them goodbye.
No one is stupid enough to say “HAY THARE SERGEANT CARTER! I AM GOING TO LEAVE AND I AM RENOUNCIN’ MY US CITIZENSHIP. JUST LETTIN YOU KNOW SO THAT YOU CAN ..., YOU KNOW... THINK ABOUT WHATEVER YOU WANT TO DO WITH ANY MONEY I HAVE IN THE BANK. CAUSE WHEN I LEAVE, I AIN’T PAYING YOU ANY OF IT. YOU HEAR ME, SGT CARTER?”
It is still easy to walk across the border with about 50,000 dollars in gold in your front pocket (maybe with cargo pants!). Charter a private plane. They are counting on us to be sheep and most of us will.
The wisest thing you can do at present is take a vacation to the Dominican Republic. If you “invest” 17,000 dollars there (buy a cd) and bring a letter from your sherriff saying you are a person of good moral character and not a criminal, you can get a statement of residency in the Dominican Republic. You don’t have to stay, but you are a “resident.” Return in 3 years, take the test, and guess what, you have dual citizenship with a passport. After that, they can’t track you (unless you are a real real real bad dude,and then they will get you no matter where you run). Oh, and you can then cash out the CD. You can get citizenship in Costa Rica or Panama if you are active in certain businesses and have about $50K. Everyone should be thinking of these things, even if you never act. Brazil and the Philippines have no extradition treaties with the US.
I know they’ve tried, but I think you could still transfer assets to a foreign corporation ahead of your planned move so your personal assets are under the threshold at the time you renounce citizenship. That simple step might still let you exit tax-free. If not, there is a whole cottage industry of people to arrange foundations, trusts, etc. to make it happen.