The Other Side

On Saturday I decided to make a trip across the border. I had things I wanted to get done on the other side; one of which was to take advantage of the looney being at par to the greenback. The rainy day didn’t keep too many Canadians from crossing either. There was still an hour wait at the border.

Sometimes I wonder why more people don’t apply for the Nexus card, which puts you in the fast lane with much shorter wait times or sometimes none at all. The cost isn’t that much and is completely worth not having to wait an hour or more at peak times. It saves not only gas and time, but from polluting the environment as well.

Though I was in the fast lane, I still had to wait 15 minutes. When it was my turn to hand over my Nexus card, the border agent noted that I was a U.S. citizen and handed the card over to the agent in the booth to verify. Just as quickly as I had answered the purpose of my visit, the card was handed back to me with a smile and a friendly “welcome back.” The whole exchange lasted a minute or less. It was the friendliest welcome I’ve ever received from a border agent. It was surprisingly nice. Past encounters were often met with a handful of questions and a couple times I was looked at like some sort of traitor. I drove across to the other side and felt happy to be home even though it would only be a couple of hours.

As I drove, I tried to imagine what it must be like to live in the small towns that line the border. To think that just a few feet away, your neighbors on the other side of the border are governed by a completely different set of laws and speak a little differently than you. They pay gas in liters or gallons; measure the temperature in celcius or fahrenheit; worship the hockey team or football team; drive in kilometers or miles; and the list goes on. There are a million similarities and a million little differences. It’s incredible how a border can have so much influence on a person’s life.

Today I read an article about how more American expats are giving up their citizenship because of major inconveniences or costs. Seems quite drastic, but it seems it’s done out of frustration. Some expats are having trouble keeping their bank accounts open in the U.S. because of the Patriot Act. The laws that make it difficult to finance terrorist groups also seem to impact Americans living abroad.

For American expats who make over $90,000 annually, they are taxed by the IRS on any income over that amount even though it’s earned abroad and are taxed in their country of residence. It’s almost as if the taxation laws were created to discourage Americans from working and living abroad.

That certainly creates some difficulties, but I wouldn’t renounce my citizenship over it. Sure, there may not be that many benefits, but what if you wanted to return home one day on a more permanent basis?

I admit it is crummy to be double taxed, but to be fair, lots of people would find it unfair too if expats who lived abroad most of their lives returned later and were able to enjoy the same benefits as their counterparts without having to contribute to the system. There’s no easy answer, but the lesson is don’t make so much money if you live abroad and don’t want to be double taxed!