A German American wrestles with the burden of her U.S. citizenship

“I work a normal, 9-5 job. I would like to invest the savings that I now have from that job. But this is almost impossible because no local brokerage firm will take me on as a client.”

— Lena Harnisch

Dear Congress,

I was born and raised in Germany. I live, work and pay taxes in Germany. My mother is American and she requested a US passport for me as a baby. I'm 36 now and this simple decision my mother made has severe consequences for me (I do of course still love her very much!).

My mother's family lives in the U.S. and we have been visiting my aunts, uncles and mostly my grandma (Mimi) at least once a year. I'm grateful for having the opportunity as a child to visit the national parks, Disneyland and just relaxing in my Mimi's back yard. I was always proud to say that I grew up speaking English and having both German and American citizenships. I thought having American citizenship would allow me to move my career to the U.S. if I decided to. After all, it's the land of the free and brave.

However, the troubles I'm now having because of citizenship-based taxation sadly makes me consider renouncing my U.S. citizenship as this seems the only option for me to live a normal life. In order to visit my Mimi, I would just need to fill out an ESTA form and explain the loss of nationality to border control.

I work a normal, 9-5 job. I would like to invest the savings that I now have from that job. But this is almost impossible because no local brokerage firm will take me on as a client. Deutsche Bank, one of the major German banks, refused to even set up a consultation call when they found out I had U.S. citizenship.

And then I researched a bit more and got scare-mongered into doing the “streamlined declaration procedure” (thinking this would help me with my investment). The procedure involves declaring the past 5 years of all your bank accounts and filing three years of tax returns. By the time I stumbled across Stop Extraterritorial American Taxation and other organizations, the streamlined procedure was already underway. The result showed that I owed the U.S. government exactly zero dollars. If I could undo this decision, I would. 

Now I am still faced with the dilemma of not knowing how to invest my savings apart from a regular savings account with approx. 1-3% interest (German savings accounts aren't that great). I also don't know what will happen if my parents leave me a small inheritance. Or if I want to buy house here in Germany, since I will be eligible for a mortgage.

I am considering renouncing because it would solve all my issues and allow me to plan for my retirement without having to plan for U.S. taxes on my German retirement.

The issue is that German tax laws, retirement contributions and tax incentives are different than in the U.S.. Even our healthcare contributions are different. Which makes it very complicated trying to find out which portions of income and tax correspond to which entries in the U.S. tax forms. So I need a professional to do these for me even though I don't owe anything to the U.S. because tax rates are higher in Germany anyway. 

Please help people like me by relieving long-term residents abroad of the need to declare taxes in the United States. No other country does this to its citizens. I feel like a second-class citizen, both compared to the Germans around me and to Americans living in the United States who don’t have any of the financial hassles that I have—just because my mother is American.  

Sincerely,

Lena Harnisch