United States News
See other United States News Articles
Title: Senators to Unveil the ‘Ex-Patriot Act’ to Respond to Facebook’s Saverin’s Tax ‘Scheme’
Source:
ABC NEWS
URL Source: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politic ... facebooks-saverins-tax-scheme/
Published: May 17, 2012
Author: ABC NEWS
Post Date: 2012-05-17 12:03:11 by Brian S
Keywords: None
Views: 230
Comments: 10
Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has a status update for Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin: Stop attempting to dodge your taxes by renouncing your U.S. citizenship or never come to back to the U.S. again. In September 2011, Saverin relinquished his U.S. citizenship before the company announced its planned initial public offering of stock, which will debut this week. The move was likely a financial one, as he owns an estimated 4 percent of Facebook and stands to make $4 billion when the company goes public. Saverin would reap the benefit of tax savings by becoming a permanent resident of Singapore, which levies no capital gains taxes. At a news conference this morning, Sens. Schumer and Bob Casey, D-Pa., will unveil the “Ex-PATRIOT” – “Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy” – Act to respond directly to Saverin’s move, which they dub a “scheme” that would “help him duck up to $67 million in taxes.” The senators will call Saverin’s move an “outrage” and will outline their plan to re-impose taxes on expatriates like Saverin even after they flee the United States and take up residence in a foreign country. Their proposal would also impose a mandatory 30 percent tax on the capital gains of anybody who renounces their U.S. citizenship. The plan would bar individuals like Saverin from ever reentering the United States again. “Eduardo recently found it more practical to become a resident of Singapore since he plans to live there for an indefinite period of time,” Tom Goodman, Saverin’s spokesman, told Bloomberg News in an email. Last year 1,700 people renounced their U.S. citizenship.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
#1. To: Brian S (#0)
The greed of D.C. and stench of their tyranny of over taxation and control of the populace is what is disgusting.
Bingo.
LoonyMing: I brandish my ignorance like a crucifix at vampires. 'It's now very common to hear people say, "I'm rather offended by that", as if that gives them certain rights. It's no more than a whine. It has no meaning, it has no purpose, it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. "I'm offended by that." Well, so fucking what?' —Stephen Fry
“a white man’s greed leaves a world in need”... {{{chuckle}}}
Never swear "allegiance" to anything other than the 'right to change your mind'!
Which Schmucky Schumer and his crew would blow through in less than a minute.
What's really needed is legislation to banish Schumer to Singapore.
Obama's watch stopped on 24 May 2008, but he's been too busy smoking crack to notice.
LoonyMing: I brandish my ignorance like a crucifix at vampires. 'It's now very common to hear people say, "I'm rather offended by that", as if that gives them certain rights. It's no more than a whine. It has no meaning, it has no purpose, it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. "I'm offended by that." Well, so fucking what?' —Stephen Fry
Exactly right.
They wouldn't take him.
Why singapore? I'm sure the bastard already has citizenship status with the bastard State some of 'you people' refer to as israel.
Never swear "allegiance" to anything other than the 'right to change your mind'!
UPDATE: Facebook Co-Founder Saverin Fires Back At Senators' Accusations online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120517-717076.html --Democratic Sens. Schumer and Casey accuse Facebook co-founder of avoiding U.S. taxes --Facebook co-founder Saverin says he will pay millions in taxes; cites "misinformation" --Democrats unveil legislation to impose 30% tax on future capital gains (Updates with Sen. Reed asking homeland security secretary to bar Saverin from re-entering the U.S.) WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--A Facebook Inc. co-founder on Thursday challenged two Senate Democrats who accused him of avoiding U.S. taxes by giving up his citizenship, saying that his decision to live in Singapore was purely personal and that he will already pay hundreds of millions in U.S. taxes under current policy. The Brazilian-born Eduardo Saverin offered his defense just hours after Sens. Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) and Sen. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) took to the microphones to accuse him of turning his back on America. By leaving the U.S. shortly before Facebook's initial public offering, Saverin is expected to owe less in taxes than if he remained a U.S. citizen and sold his shares after the stock sale. "My decision to expatriate was based solely on my interest in working and living in Singapore, where I have been since 2009," Saverin said in a statement. "I am obligated to and will pay hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes to the United States government. I have paid and will continue to pay any taxes due on everything I earned while a U.S. citizen. It is unfortunate that my personal choice has led to a public debate, based not on the facts, but entirely on speculation and misinformation." Facebook is scheduled to go public Friday, in a stock sale that values the company at $104 billion. Saverin, who helped start the social-networking website while a student at Harvard University, holds a stake of roughly 2% in the company, according to a Wall Street Journal profile. That would effectively make him a billionaire once the stock sale is complete. Schumer told reporters that "this is a great American success story gone horribly wrong." He said that Saverin "has turned his back on the country that welcomed him and kept him safe, educated him, and helped him become a billionaire." Sen. Jack Reed (D., R.I.) also went into action, urging U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano to declare that Savarin couldn't set foot onto U.S. soil again. A 1996 law bars from re-entry people who renounce their U.S. citizenship for U.S. tax purposes, but lawyers say the law has never been enforced, in part because it is difficult to prove and because the IRS isn't supposed to reveal tax information. "I urge you to address any outstanding impediments to execution of this law with respect to Mr. Saverin or any alien that falls within the prohibition," Reed wrote. He said that the federal government had successfully gotten around impediments in the past, and should do so again. Through a spokesman, Saverin repeated that his decision was not about taxes. Asked whether Saverin wished to return to the U.S. at any point in the future, the spokesman said that "we're not going to engage in that type of conversation." In his statement, Saverin said "I will continue to invest in U.S. businesses and start-ups, and believe and hope that those investments will create many new jobs in the U.S. and globally." He also said "I am very grateful to the U.S. for everything it has given me," and noted that since he invested his life's savings in Facebook, it has "expanded dramatically" and created thousands of jobs in the U.S. and elsewhere. Saverin is already subject to an exit tax, since a 2008 law mandated that certain expatriates who give up their U.S. citizenship pay an exit tax imposed on the unrealized gain in the value of assets over $600,000. Based on current policy, the tax works out to 15% of the amount of money owed if the Facebook stake were sold at fair market value on the day before giving up his U.S. citizenship. Such valuations are usually the subject of negotiations with the Internal Revenue Service, which lawyers say frequently challenges private appraisals. Schumer is concerned about the ability to avoid larger capital-gains taxes. Because the value of Facebook holdings is likely to appreciate in connection with the IPO, Saverin would be able to escape paying capital gains taxes on any stock appreciation. Moreover, Saverin would be able to lock in the 15% capital-gains tax rate, which was enacted in 2003 by the Bush administration but will expire at year's end unless Congress extends it. The legislation from Schumer and Casey would impose a 30% capital gains tax on future investment gains in the U.S. on wealthy people found to have given up their citizenship in order to avoid taxes. In addition, if the IRS finds that an individual gave up his or her citizenship in order to escape paying taxes, he or she would be barred from returning to the U.S. People like Saverin would be presumed to have given up their citizenship in order to avoid taxes, and would have to prove otherwise to the IRS. Americans with either $2 million in net worth or an average income tax liability of at least $148,000 over the last five years would be affected. "People are just sick and tired of this--they feel they are being scapegoated as tax evaders," said Kevin Packman, who chairs the offshore tax compliance practice at the law firm of Holland & Knight. He says he has clients who have lived overseas for years and wound up giving up their U.S. citizenship because of the challenges of filing paperwork and complying with laws in a country where they do not live. The reaction on Capitol Hill was largely muted, as lawmakers were caught between disappointment with the departure of a high-profile U.S. citizen and their own feelings about the tax code. One Capitol Hill aide voiced what many Republicans privately feel: that the problem is not tax avoidance but U.S. tax policy. "The root cause of the problem--an archaic tax code and massive tax burden that incentivizes people to do something like this--must be fixed," said Antonia Ferrier, a spokeswoman for Sen. Orrin Hatch (R., Utah), the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee. "Tax reform would not only be a more effective way of discouraging people from emigrating from the United States, but would also ensure that the United States remains competitive in the global economy."
#2. To: SJN (#1)
The greed of D.C. and stench of their tyranny of over taxation and control of the populace is what is disgusting.
Translation: IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
#3. To: SJN (#1)
The greed of D.C. and stench of their tyranny
#4. To: Brian S (#0)
At a news conference this morning, Sens. Schumer and Bob Casey, D-Pa., will unveil the “Ex-PATRIOT” – “Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy” – Act to respond directly to Saverin’s move, which they dub a “scheme” that would “help him duck up to $67 million in taxes.”
#5. To: Brian S, *Jack-Booted Thugs* (#0)
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
#6. To: hondo68 (#5)
(Edited)
Translation: IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
#7. To: SJN (#1)
The greed of D.C. and stench of their tyranny of over taxation and control of the populace is what is disgusting.
we must as a species go into a period of shrinkage that we have not experienced since the Dark Ages and the Black Plague -- loonymom
#8. To: hondo68 (#5)
What's really needed is legislation to banish Schumer to Singapore.
we must as a species go into a period of shrinkage that we have not experienced since the Dark Ages and the Black Plague -- loonymom
#9. To: hondo68 (#5)
What's really needed is legislation to banish Schumer to Singapore.
#10. To: Brian S (#0)
By Siobhan Hughes
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]