Even paying zero dollars you still have to file taxes, send in FBAR, invest in a FACTA compliant way, sort out redundant pensions, and deal with the IRS - all at comically inflated costs since software products (e.g. Turbotax) don't do overseas taxes well, if at all. And if you make a mistake navigating an incredibly complex web of under-documented treaty law and ambiguous paperwork you can quite literally end up imprisoned by a country with one of the developed world's most comically broken justice systems the next time you go on holiday. I once won a random prize drawing for a modest amount of cash ($15k) and ended up paying nearly $3k in accountant fees to navigate the double-taxation process safely. My US tax burden was $0, but the filling burden was way beyond that. I haven't benefited from US public services or anything in many years. The US is essentially the only country on the world that inflicts this nonsense on people.