Boris Johnson 'intends to renounce US citizenship'

Boris Johnson says he intends to renounce his American citizenship to prove his "commitment to Britain".

Boris Johnson 'intends to renounce US citizenship' _81017957_81017952

Boris Johnson 'intends to renounce US citizenship' _81017957_81017952

He told the Sunday Times that his citizenship was "an accident of birth that has left me with this thing. I've got to find a way of sorting it out".

The Mayor of London, who was born in New York, has just completed a six-day tour of the the US.

Mr Johnson is running for parliament in Uxbridge and South Ruislip in the forthcoming general election.

He said he would approach US ambassador Matthew Barzun to explore what are the necessary steps to give up his American nationality.

"The reason I'm thinking I probably will want to make a change is that my commitment is, and always has been, to Britain," he said.

Mr Johnson - who was born in Manhattan in 1964 and owns a US passport alongside a British one - said that relinquishing his citizenship was a "laborious business, they don't make it easy for you".
Presidential question

His passport was recently renewed in November 2012 but Mr Johnson had previously stated that he would give it up after being told in 2006 that, as a native born American, he could only use a US passport to travel in that country, and not his British one.

He told US chat show host David Letterman in 2012 that he could "technically speaking" become US president, as that nation requires its presidential candidates to be born there.

His trade mission to the US this week was aimed at bolstering London's science and technology industries.

He began his east coast tour in Boston before heading to New York City and Washington DC.

In January he settled a US tax bill he had previously described as "absolutely outrageous".

Mr Johnson had faced a demand from the US authorities to pay capital gains tax on profits from the sale of his house in north London.

American law requires all citizens to pay US taxes even if they live abroad.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-31475945

Boris Johnson 'intends to renounce US citizenship'

Boris Johnson 'intends to renounce US citizenship'

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