Americans dump citizenship in droves to escape harsh taxes

Think your taxes are tough? Try doing them from that island paradise to which you dream of escaping. Thanks to the U.S. policy of taxing citizens wherever they live in the world, the country is taking a major PR hit as record numbers of Americans give up their nationality. In Bern, Switzerland, embassy staff has had to be redeployed to deal with an overload of applications; numbers there are especially high because of expats who are fed up with having their finances scrutinized for signs of tax evasion. In 2008, only 235 Americans gave up their citizenship; that number skyrocketed to 1,780 in 2011. Even forfeiting citizenship doesn't come free -- renouncement costs $450, and that's before an asset-based "exit" tax.