When people make a lot of money, it’s not fair because they have more money than the rest of us do. So we have to tax the ever-loving $#!+ out of them. And if they decide they don’t want to be Americans anymore, we have to chase them down and go through their pockets.
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.
I’ve got another idea. I know it’s crazy, but hear me out:
Why don’t we make America a place where successful people want to live?
If you haven’t seen The Social Network, Sevarin is pretty much the only sympathetic character in the whole thing. Who knows how accurate that depiction is — Aaron Sorkin doesn’t seem to care — but if he’s anything like the guy in this scene, my favorite scene in the whole movie, this is far from over.
WARNING: SPOILERS, ADULT LANGUAGE, AND JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE’S COMEUPPANCE
Sevarin says renouncing his citizenship has nothing to do with taxes. But if these guys want to make it about that, I get the feeling he’s not going to take it lying down.
I wonder how tough it is to make Chuck Schumer flinch?
