| That page describes the situation for expats in general. It's different for U.S. citizens. Bunq, the first bank that's listed, has special requirements: https://together.bunq.com/d/2318-why-are-there-special-regul... With an SSN you can open a basic checking and savings account. However, you'll be denied for any type of investments. This also means U.S. citizens can't participate in pension plans of Dutch employees. Even local crypto exchanges are refusing service: https://bitonic.nl/en/faq/33/what-is-a-us-person Meanwhile, banks and brokers in the U.S. require a permanent residential address. For example, Wealthfront states they don't "support clients residing outside of the U.S., including U.S. citizens residing abroad". Additionally, The Netherlands has a wealth tax. Even on unrealized gains. Each year you pay taxes on stocks you haven't sold yet. Then, when you actually do sell, you can't use the previous years of Dutch taxes that you've paid to offset the U.S. capital gains tax. It's especially complicated for so called Accidental Americans. Many of whom don't have or know their SSN. To get one you must submit your birth certificate and US passport. If you don't have those it's quite difficult to get them. When you finally obtain your SSN, renouncing is a challenge in itself. It requires filing tax returns for the past 3 years + 6 years of FBAR (you'll most likely need an accountant for this or face steep penalties), pay $2300 to renounce, and then file another tax return for the year in which you renounced. |
As long as one has non-US local friends/family who can cash out, I don't think this matters much (albeit in a local currency)
I think in this day in age, all of this is really depends on ones personal preference in how deeply they want to tie themselves directly to the traditional banking system (and traditional asset classes/financing/jobs/organizations) without even trying to give up US citizenship (because obviously, the process is a PITA).