The refusal by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to pay his US taxes has today been hailed as “brave” by the CEO of the independent financial advisory firm deVere Group.

The refusal by the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to pay his US taxes has today been hailed as “brave” by the CEO of the independent financial advisory firm deVere Group.

Last week Johnson revealed said he is refusing to pay a tax demand by the US government, despite previously criticizing the US government for not paying the London congestion charge.

Johnson was born in New York and has dual citizenship, which makes him eligible to pay tax in America. While he has not lived in the US since he was five years old, neither has he relinquished his US passport - as he indicated he might back in 2006. The IRS is now seeking tax on the sale of his UK home.

The news highlights the growing problem that many US ex-pats face, particularly with the introduction of Foreign Account Tax Compliant Act earlier this year, which requires people that have no existing ties to the country to pay US taxes.

“Whilst I wouldn’t advocate that individuals do not comply with FATCA – instead they should explore all the available options to mitigate its adverse effects – I do hope the Mayor’s apparent FATCA crusade will serve as a call to arms to other high profile personalities to publicly express their opposition to this highly-polemical new law,” said Nigel Green, CEO at deVere.

Green believes that the citizen-based US tax system - which taxes citizens no matter where they live and work in the world – is “draconian and utterly inappropriate for today’s increasingly globalized world.”

According to the US Treasury Department, the number of Americas renouncing their citizenship rose by 220 per cent in 2013.