Why does the United States still tax its citizens even if they don’t live in the country?

To me it makes no sense at all. No other country (to my knowledge) taxes its citizens based on citizenship, but rather based on residency. I’ve lived in several countries and have never heard of this being a problem, and have never had to deal with the problem of having to pay tax in a country that I no longer live in. <br><br>If you are an American citizen you are automatically required to pay taxes in the US, regardless of whether you have lived in the country in the past 20 years, or your place of birth. If you don’t pay said taxes, even if you live in a different country for the last 20 years, you can be arrested and charged with a crime. Is this common? I’m a Canadian and have lived in the US, and had to pay taxes there, but that’s because I lived there, not because I was a citizen.<br><br>Edit:<br><br>Wow this has blown up. Thanks for the awards. I see a lot of people in the comments that are either confused about the facts, or believe that this isn’t a problem, but I would encourage you to try living in another country as an American for 5 years and tell me that paying tax in a country you don’t live in, doesn’t live in, and hasn’t lived in for the past 5 years, is a good idea. The US is the only country to tax based on citizenship as opposed to residency, and it is a huge burden for Americans that live abroad.