Trump Pledges to End ‘Double Taxation’ of Americans Abroad

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By Richard Rubin and Alex Leary

(The Wall Street Journal) — Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said he supports lowering taxes on U.S. citizens who live abroad, marking a new attempt by the former president to win support from an often-overlooked group of voters.

The U.S. has an unusual system for taxing its citizens on their total income regardless of where they earned it and where they live, making America alone among major countries with such a rule. Other countries use systems that base taxation on where people live. The U.S. policy dates back to the 1860s and the income tax created to finance the Civil War.

Essentially, an American living in Paris would have tax obligations to both France and the U.S., though the U.S. tax code already contains features meant to mitigate double taxation. A French citizen residing in New York typically wouldn’t owe France any taxes on U.S. income.