A story that made some headlines in April was about Superman renouncing his American Citizenship. Reading the headline makes one wonder why Superman would want to do that when there are millions of undocumented immigrants trying to get legal status in the U.S.

Well, its not only Superman who wants to renounce his American citizenship. There have been other similar instances that have been reported in various news channels. A note-worthy point is that its more of the American expatriates who are renouncing their citizenship. The reasons they quote are rising taxes and other banking related issues.

America may be a haven to millions of people from under privileged countries. They seek American shores in the hopes of living comfortable lives. But for Americans abroad, the country does not offer much in terms of comfort, financial comfort specifically.

America is about the only country in the world that taxes its citizens even though they live abroad permanently. Further, Americans living abroad are penalized for not disclosing bank or other financial accounts abroad. These two reasons combined have made the financial burden too much to bear and the expatriates feel its not worth maintaining dual citizenship. Hence they go ahead and renounce their American citizenship.