According to the Star Spangled Banner, the United States is the land of the free and the home of the brave. So how come the number of Americans renouncing their citizenship is hitting new heights?

More than three thousand people have given up their US nationality so far this year. That's caused such a backlog that the fee for doing so has been hiked from 450 dollars to more than two thousand dollars.

One reason so many people are bidding farewell to Uncle Sam is tax.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, better known as FATCA, is a law which demands US citizens file tax returns to the US. Even if they live, say, in a country like France, as the BBC's Russell Newlove has been discovering in Paris.

(Photo: US passports Credit: Getty)