Senators to Unveil the ‘Ex-Patriot Act’ to Respond to Facebook’s Saverin’s Tax ‘Scheme’
The Saverin fall-out, as expected, has begun:
Key quote:
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.
What does this mean? Can we never be free from these people? Is this implying that if you renounce citizenship now even with under the 2 million in assets that you will end up paying capital gains taxes anyway? And what is this about “re-imposing taxes on expatriates”? Does that mean that renouncing citizenship doesn’t do anything and that there would be no way to get out of the US net? Personally I couldn’t care less if they ban me from travelling there, but this has me very alarmed at what is going on. I just want to get rid of this unwanted, accidental citizenship and get about living my life in my own country!
Here’s a thought, what if due to globalization and the actions of one cute billionaire it becomes fashionable for the ever increasing number of disillusioned to flee the US? Won’t it come as a surprise to them when they find out what we already know about living abroad? Unlike us, however, they will have the advantage of learning about their tax obligations before they leave as it’s in the media and written in mouse-print on the last page of their passport.
PS, imagine their response when the world says “move along, we’ve got too many of you poor bastards already”.
from they dailyreckoning article. The “career barnacles” reference was excellent 🙂
The Wall Street Journal has a strongly worded Editorial today on the Schuman proposal..
The Saverin Lesson
A punitive exit tax on the Facebook expat isn’t worthy of America
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FATCA is now slowly appearing in the US press and perhaps people are starting to take notice how damaging Carl Levin’s poster child will be for the US.
Ironically no matter the outcome, whether they keep FATCA until its damage is widespread then Levin retires, or they repeal FATCA and Levin will stand up and say “I tried to stop tax evaders, blame the rest of the Congress for repealing.” Isn’t Levin just becoming a sad little out-of-touch man living in America of 1960s Mad Men. Even Don Draper would have more sense than Carl Levin.
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@OMG, I know I’m late to the party, but I did want to congratulate you on your good news. With all of the stress caused by all of this crap, that new stress of waiting for another mammogram must have been just simply awful. You must feel such relief. Our health care system is not perfect, but it is there when we need it, thankfully. I’m so glad you’re healthy and we can continue to enjoy your comments.
Here is an article discussing citizenship in general, and mentioning both the Bachmann and Saverin stories: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/18/opinion/citizenship-to-go.html
@outragedcanadian, one thing this crazy grasping for dollars by the IRS/US Administration has taught me is to be grateful that we’re Canadians. Until now I took all the good things we have in Canada for granted.
We don’t hear of anybody having to go bankrupt because a family member became ill. We may not have the over the top patriotism of Americans but Canada is truly a real family that takes care of it’s own. We don’t just talk the talk we live it.
Those of us who have never had to deal with a serious illness in our families are thankful and we don’t begrudge anyone who has to use the public healthcare services to their fullest extent.
I would not trade living in Canada for anywhere else in the world. If my little Internet company ever becomes super successful you won’t find me heading to the US or anywhere else looking to pay lower taxes. I’m just too Canadian to want to live somewhere else.
For your reading pleasure, thought I would post two stories from Politico. For those that don’t know, it is the go to web site for politic talk in DC. All the insiders read here.
They had two stories today posted under the heading of 6 worst political gaffs on Facebook, subheading… The most memorable blunders on the site.
Here is one…
Sen. Bob Casey: Eduardo Saverin ‘should pay’ up
and here is the second…
Rush Limbaugh: Facebook’s Eduardo Saverin no coward
@Just Me, Wow. I never thought I’d be agreeing with Rush Limbaugh 🙂
I used to like Rush, years ago when I was a card-carrying young republican. Even if many of you here at IBS don’t usually like what he says, he may very well recognize our side of the story (even as non-millionaires/billionaires). Should we send him an email with our positions?
@JDT Darn good idea. I’d say that we should. Be interesting to see what he said. He’s enough of a curmudgeon that he might really enjoy this site.
🙂
@ Victoria
He’s not a curmudgeon in my book … that’s just too cutesy a term for that really annoying man. Curmudgeon is Walter Matthau in “The Odd Couple”, not he who I cannot bear to name.
@Victoria…
Well, I outgrew Rush about 30 years ago. His style and self centered “me” promotion, plus all the ads on his radio program just turn me off. However while I don’t like him personally, he can be right sometimes. So, I have to set aside the style issues and consider the merits of what he says. He is right on this one. Wonder how the “Real American” patriot ditto heads took the message on board?
@Em, I see your point. Maybe Contrarian would be a better term. On the hand even that doesn’t quite fit because the man can be downright mean sometimes. On the other hand so was Mencken and he was hardly a master of modesty either, Just Me. Mencken’s essay on “Being an American” is a masterpiece:
http://www.prismnet.com/gibbonsb/mencken/american.html
Just love the “Eden of clowns”…..
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@ Victoria
Thanks for the Mencken essay. Sadly, we still have our clowns and they just keep getting meaner and meaner.
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@Victoria… Thanks for the Mencken essay. It was late last night, so up early to read now.
The “Ex-PATRIOT Act” has been assigned a bill number (S.3205). Still waiting on the full text.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:S.3205:
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s3205/show
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/112/s3205
@victoria, @justme- is there no more better proof of the snobbish superiority of the expat mind than that we read and are amused by Mencken? (LOL)
Couldn’t this Ex-PATRIOT Act backfire big time for the Democrats during the election?
The Republicans could say the Democrats are trying to turn America into a jail for the rich because their policies are driving people with money to leave the country. When money leaves so do jobs which affects all Americans.
Today’s edition of the Alyona Show on Russia Today covered all the relevant, accurate facts about Saverin about 9 minutes into the show,
http://rt.com/programs/alyona-show/financial-checkup-facebook-ipo/