A woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown — because of American double taxation

“I don’t want to associate my American passport with sleepless nights, lost savings, and panic attacks. But that’s what citizenship-based taxation has done to me—and to countless others.”

— Gabriella in Sweden

Dear Congress,

I am close to a breakdown over double taxation.

I was born in Sweden, moved to the United States for part of my life, and eventually returned back to Sweden, where I now live. Here I’ve built my life, paid my taxes, and raised my two teenage boys, who are my world.

Yet I am trapped in a tax system that treats me as if I were hiding wealth overseas—when in reality, I have very little. In the United States, all I own is a modest IRA of $90,000 and a future Social Security benefit of about $700 a month when I turn 62. Today, I am 54.

Like millions of Americans abroad, I am entangled in the nightmarish web of double taxation and punitive reporting rules. I’ve spent over 200 hours just gathering the information the IRS requires. At one point, my bank even failed to upload key statements, and I had to beg employees to dig through back systems I couldn’t access. The stress has been crushing. The sleepless nights, panic attacks, and depression have been overwhelming.

Legal one place, toxic another

For three years, I unknowingly held 27 Swedish mutual funds—ordinary investments that my neighbours use for retirement savings. No one ever told me these were considered “toxic” PFICs under U.S. tax law. Only after it was too late did I learn that the IRS treats them as abusive tax shelters, demanding costly, complex reporting.

Now my entire dividend portfolio is gone. I can’t keep a simple Swedish investment account (ISK), because the IRS doesn’t approve it. Some banks don’t want me as a client because of FATCA. I’ve been forced to dismantle a lifetime of financial planning simply because America refuses to recognize that my life—and my tax home—are here in Sweden.

To try to comply, I entered the “Streamline” program, which is meant to help Americans abroad catch up on years of filings. But the process is devastating. The only reason I can afford it at all is because my child tax credit reimbursement will cover most of the costs. Otherwise, it would have been impossible.

What choice do I have? If I want to keep the option of working in the U.S. one day, or if my sons choose to study in America, I must stay compliant. If not, my only escape would be renouncing my U.S. citizenship—a decision I prefer to avoid. Imagine what it feels like to be pushed toward giving up your nationality, not because you don’t love your country, but because your country has made it impossible to live freely abroad.

Sleepless in Sweden

I don’t want to feel this way. I don’t want to associate my American passport with sleepless nights, lost savings, and panic attacks. But that’s what citizenship-based taxation has done to me—and to countless others.

There is a solution. Congressman Darin LaHood has introduced the Residence-Based Taxation for Americans Act, now also supported by Sen. Todd Young. It would finally align the U.S. with the rest of the developed world. It would allow Americans to pay taxes where they actually live, not in the country where they don’t. This reform would not open loopholes for the wealthy. It would simply free ordinary families like mine from a system that is ruining our lives.

Congress must act. Please, for the millions of us caught in this nightmare, support the Residence-Based Taxation for Americans Act. Let us live where we live, pay taxes where we live, and still love the country we come from—without being punished for it.

Sincerely,
Gabriella
Sweden