constitutional-law tax-law
Is Citizen-Based Taxation Constitutional?
<p>The U.S. is currently one of two countries in the world that imposes taxes on all her its citizens regardless of where they live or where they earn money from. The other is Eritrea. </p>

<p>Considering that one of the primary grievances which sparked the American Revolution was "taxation without representation", Citizen-Based Taxation is quite ironic. There are no elected representatives for American citizens abroad and their interests are almost never considered.</p>

<p>From a constitutional perspective, is it legal to force a U.S. citizen living abroad and earning a living abroad to pay taxes to the U.S. despite having no representation, and receiving no benefits in return - in addition to being deprived of the basic freedom to expatriate (the tax and filing requirements are so onerous for Americans abroad it is in most respects unfeasable to live abroad. Those that do are overwhelmingly not compliant).</p>

<p>What are the arguments for and against?</p>

<ul>
<li><p>I know of no specific provision of the Constitution that would forbid it.</p></li>
<li><p>I know of no court case in which it has been found unconstitutional.</p></li>
<li><p>There's no "irony" clause in the Constitution.  Taxation without representation may have been a grievance, but there's no inherent reason why  the framers would have had to forbid it.</p></li>
<li><p>US citizens do still have the "freedom to expatriate" (and avoid taxation) if they renounce their citizenship.</p></li>
<li><p>There are already other examples of "taxation without representation" in US law (e.g. District of Columbia), which also have not been found unconstitutional in court, as far as I know.</p></li>
<li><p>In many cases, expatriates can still vote for federal offices, including Congress (e.g. in a state where they used to live, or where a parent used to live).  See <a href="https://www.fvap.gov/citizen-voter/registration-ballots" rel="noreferrer">https://www.fvap.gov/citizen-voter/registration-ballots</a>.</p></li>
<li><p>The Sixteenth Amendment gives Congress the power to "lay and collect taxes" with few limitations.  There is certainly no explicit exception for expatriates.  As far as I can tell, it would be constitutional if Congress were to impose an income tax on everybody in the world, regardless of residency or citizenship; it would just be hard to enforce.</p></li>
</ul>

<p>A US citizen abroad CAN vote in elections. According to the state department,</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>Most U.S. citizens 18 years or older who reside outside the United States are eligible to vote absentee for federal office candidates in U.S. primary and general elections. </p>
</blockquote>

<p>There is no taxation without representation. </p>

<p>You may not be using US services abroad, but that's your choice. As a US citizen, you are free to return to the US and use its resources as you please. That freedom is why you pay taxes. As @NateEldredge said, you can always choose to expatriate if you do not want to pay taxes and have no intention of returning to the US. You can't have the best of both worlds. </p>

<p>Source: <a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/passports/en/abroad/legal-matters/benefits/voting.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Absentee Voting Information for U.S. Citizens Abroad</a></p>
