Do these not exist any more for US taxpayers? I gather you always owe federal taxes even if you reside/retire outside the country, which is quite strange given you are not reaping the benefits. Not a practice by other countries on their expatriates.
Will this hold for the draconian 2014 health care requirements too? If you retired to Thailand with it's world class cheap hospitals for foreigners, would you still have to pay for some US healthcare plan that doesn't even cover anything foreign?
Technically speaking you avoid fed tax if you live in some US possessions like US Virgin Islands, but you normally simply pay your fed tax to the local gov't instead. I think American Samoa may be an exception, but no welcome mat for immigrants.
For local taxes there are the well known states such as TX, FL that don't have income taxes, but may have higher other taxes such as for real estate. Is there a such a state with low tax overall, where you don't substitute one tax for another? Similarly the foreign employment tax credit does no good if you substitute one tax for another.
I'm not suggesting trying to escape taxes and still receive services, but reducing both of them. Especially if you are flexible about where you reside. Maybe ideas will start flowing after April 15...