[arbuge]

It is hard to fathom the complexities you face when overseas as a US citizen due to the US tax code, which is basically the only code of a major developed country to tax its citizens wherever they may live worldwide, regardless of their source of income.

There is a system of tax exemptions and credits within the code to offset the double taxation this would imply when living in a jurisdiction which imposes its own income taxes, as most countries in fact do. The difficulties arise in reconciling the US tax liabilities with those owed to the foreign country, calculating the applicable credits, etc. In practice this requires expensive tax professionals in most cases - and they get really expensive if you're an entrepreneur with an overseas corporation, which is pretty much a nightmare to deal with on several levels - different accounting standards, controlled foreign corporation tax reporting, paying estimated taxes when having no clue what the result of a complex tax calculation process will be, etc.

Besides income taxes, there are also bank account reporting requirements (TDF 90-22.1 form) which have made many people's lives difficult. The penalties for not reporting any foreign bank account are draconian even if you live overseas and need an account where you live (you will). Even worse, foreign banks are reluctant to deal with US citizens because of the reporting they in turn are required to do on their behalf, resulting in frequent difficulties opening and maintaining bank accounts overseas if you are a US citizen.

Finally, as a US citizen overseas you are still entitled to social security payments from the US government, but get no benefit from your contributions to Medicare, which only covers you within the USA proper. For that matter you also get no benefit from most of the residual income taxes you pay to the USA that you can't offset with tax exemptions/credits. It's not like those taxes will be used for any of the infrastructure etc. you use overseas.