People who are just suggesting countries are overlooking a very important part of the no-IRS equation - obtaining citizenship in the choice country. This is not easy to do by any means, and involves a great deal of time & money, in many cases, LOTS of money.. (usually involving some initial property ownership and then possibly much more in fees). Then, once you obtain foreign citizenship, you of course have to renounce your US citizenship, otherwise the IRS will still be after you. Some great info and advice can be found in this book I happened to stumble upon in Border's over the summer. I'm surprised the Feds haven't banned it. It's 2007 copyright, so it's up to date for all of the recent TIEA acts. You can skip most of the tax haven aspects of it, the info you'll be looking for are the detailed descriptions of how to obtain a passport/citizenship in all of the countries listed. edit - sorry, fixed link
The OP will specifically REQUIRE foreign citizenship if he no longer wants to heed to the IRS.. and then there's the 10-year clause..
Yes sorry I misread your post, you are entirely right for American to escape IRS. If obtaining residency is not easy in most Asian countries if you dont have a solid job already, obtaining citizenship is almost impossible if you play by the book...
Australia and New Zealand are both very much part of the new BB world order. Oops now I am on the list!
Let's not forget that if you are a US citizen abroad, you can exclude up to $82,400 of your foreign earned income (will be slightly more for 2007). Should be more than enough for a minimalist like fatrat to live quite comfortably in most of the places mentioned above. Yes, you're still supposed to file a 1040 every year, as long as you meet the minimum income test for your filing status. You just won't have to pay any US income tax, ever, whether or not you choose to keep your US citizenship.