Thursday, February 24, 2005

Much Ado about Dual Citizenship !

Much respected and dignified Indian economists in this country have conjured this idea that an Indian by birth, American by citizenship has to pay up tax for both the countries if he desires dual citizenship. For all this time Indian banks were a haven for the hard-earned , saved, already well taxed money of an NRI, but times are changing. I makes me wonder if this is actually fair..there is no doubt that Indian economy is benifiting with the flow of dollars and also dollar investments. Taxing this influx could mean serious repercussions. I am digressing a bit from my original argument here but the matter is not as simple as it seems.
A friend of mine who has an American citizenship, recently told me that a visa to India for 10 years(multiple entry) is available at 150 dollars with no time restriction per stay.So why would a green card converted citizen want to possess dual citizenship if he has to pay up more tax apart from the moolah he shells out to Uncle Sam year after year. It makes sense if there is some tax deductible here if you pay tax in India..somwhat like a personal loan, house loan kind of thing. But imagine 30% tax in the US and again tax in India( there are a million ways to save tax in India though) would mean a lot, and all of this to get a right to vote some scum of the earth to an assembly, legislative seat. I don't know what decision we arrive at..because Manmohan is a pretty shrewd man ( proven by his keen observation of the H1 visa holder SS tax and Medicare issue), but I hope they take into consideration the larger(==monetary) interests of a typical money-saving desi !

Abhi picture baaki hai mere dost !

Freaks Inc.. Bengaluru.. 15 years 2 months and 8 days later.. Agenda for the meeting: Day 1 1. Paying our respects to the beginning of time ...