Expats in US pay high price

BEIJING - Just three months after becoming a permanent resident of the United States, Zhang Jianwu (not his real name) has already begun to feel the pain of being wealthy in his new country of residence.

As a businessman in the foil making industry, he is frequently exhausted from his trips between the US and China, where he must wine and dine his clients and associates to maintain the health of his business.

What burdens him the most, however, are the heavy taxes imposed on the country's top earners. According to the US tax code, he must pay nearly 30 percent of his income to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the country's taxation authority.