US Citizenship Renunciations in 2026: The Numbers and the Trend

Nearly 1,800 people gave up US citizenship in the second quarter of 2026, according to the IRS list published in the Federal Register on July 23, 2026. That is up 68.5 percent from the same quarter of 2025 and 21.8 percent from the first quarter of 2026.

Roughly 3,300 names have been published so far in 2026. If the second half matches 2025, this year will be the highest since the 2020 record of 6,705, and could challenge it. The next list, covering July to September, is due in late October or November 2026 and this page is updated after every release.

Under Internal Revenue Code section 6039G, the Treasury must publish each quarter the names of individuals who lost US citizenship, based on the information the IRS received during that quarter. The list also captures some long-term green card holders who formally ended US residency. It is the only official public count of renunciations.

Three caveats before reading the numbers:

• The quarter reflects when the IRS received the paperwork, not when the person actually renounced. Consulate backlogs and processing delays push names into later quarters.
• The list undercounts. People whose paperwork has not reached the IRS, and those still waiting for a consular appointment, are not in it. Industry estimates put the global appointment queue in the tens of thousands.
• Quarter-to-quarter swings are partly administrative. The third quarter is often the largest because summer appointments and batch processing land together.

Names published in the Federal Register, by the quarter in which the IRS received the information:

• 2026: Q1 about 1,480, Q2 nearly 1,800. First half total roughly 3,300.
• 2025: Q1 1,285, Q2 about 1,070, Q3 about 1,600, Q4 '. Full year approximately 5,000, the highest since 2020.
• 2024: Q1 345, Q2 1,717, Q3 2,123, Q4 635. Full year 4,820, up about half on 2023.
• Longer view: 2020 set the record at 6,705 as consulates cleared pre-pandemic paperwork. 2021 fell to 2,426 while consulates were closed, then 2022 (3,816) and 2023 (about 3,100) began the climb that continues today.

Sources: the quarterly notices in the Federal Register (Q2 2026 notice here, Q1 2026 here, Q4 2025 here), with quarter-over-quarter percentages as reported by the IRS.

Three things are happening at once. First, the consular backlog built up in 2020 and 2021 is still being worked through, so part of the 2024 to 2026 climb is old demand finally being processed. Second, the underlying rate is rising: the second quarter of 2026 was 68.5 percent above the second quarter of 2025 even though both quarters were post-backlog. Third, the profile of who renounces is shifting toward long-term residents of Europe, Canada and Asia who never lived as adults in the United States, the group usually called accidental Americans.

The drivers have not changed since FATCA took full effect in 2014: foreign banks that refuse or close accounts for US persons, annual US filing on top of home-country taxes, penalty exposure for forms like FBAR, and the difficulty of investing normally from abroad. For a current picture of that last point see our guide to US custodians closing and restricting nonresident accounts.

Renunciation is permanent, and for many people it is the wrong tool for a compliance problem that has cheaper fixes. Before deciding, know the four numbers that matter:

• The State Department fee: $2,350 per person.
• The exit tax test: you are a covered expatriate, and potentially owe tax on unrealized gains, if your net worth is $2 million or more, your average annual US tax liability over the prior five years exceeds the inflation-adjusted threshold, or you cannot certify five years of full compliance on Form 8854.
• The compliance certification: the five-year certification is where most accidental Americans get stuck. The IRS relief procedures for certain former citizens, and the streamlined filing procedures, exist for exactly this situation; see our accidental American tax guide.
• Your home-country position: some countries tax the same gains, and treaty tie-breaker rules can change your filing obligations before you renounce. Our 2026 expat tax guide covers the ordering.

Aequify gives US citizens abroad one view of accounts across countries, prepares the tax-ready data packs a five-year compliance certification depends on, and models a renunciation or a cross-border move in the scenario planner before you commit to either. If the numbers above describe a decision you are weighing, start with the full picture of what you hold and where.

The Treasury publishes the list in the Federal Register about three to four weeks after each quarter ends: late January, late April, late July and late October or November. This page is refreshed after each release with the new quarter, the year-to-date total and the year-over-year comparison.

This article provides general information and is not tax, legal or investment advice. Figures are taken from official Federal Register notices and IRS-reported comparisons and are rounded where the source rounded them. Confirm your own position with qualified advisers before acting.