‘Why Do I Have to Pay Taxes on That?’ Wrongfully Detained Americans Face Bills, Fines and Fraud Back Home

livemint.com:

When Washington Post correspondent Jason Rezaian was released from Iran after 544 days of imprisonment, he said his welcome home came with bills of $20,000 for unpaid taxes, late payment penalties and interest. Rezaian had given his brother power of attorney to manage his affairs while he was abroad—but that power didn’t allow his brother to submit tax returns on his behalf. “There was no pause button for wrongful detention," Rezaian said.

“I was a hostage…Why do I have to pay taxes on that?" Families of wrongfully detained U.S. citizens struggle to maintain detainees’ financial lives in their absence, even as they also wage daily battles to secure their loved one’s freedom. Their bureaucratic battles have spurred government officials, advocacy groups and lawmakers to search for ways to help them cut through the red tape.

A growing number of Americans are being detained by hostile governments on charges that the U.S. considers bogus. About 40 U.S.

citizens are currently deemed by the federal government to be wrongfully detained, including Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who was detained on a reporting trip in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg almost 100 days ago and faces a charge of espionage that he, the Journal and the U.S. government vehemently deny. Such detentions add a layer of geopolitical complexity over efforts to secure a detainee’s freedom, but in every case, there is also a blizzard of administrative tasks for a detainee’s parents or siblings or adult children to tackle at home—something many of them do as an act of faith, that the person will eventually return.