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Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

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Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#101

Post by JAlexoid »

gameswithgo wrote: post #11
cblconfederate wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do people think this is a "bad thing"? It's no different than buying an expensive home anywhere in the world, except it comes with a citizenship. I doubt he can use the favorable taxation - he would have to renounce his US citizenship for that.

Some people might see the ultra wealthy in the USA of late as having taken part in destroying the country and also preparing to leave it, which they can do thanks to their wealth. Pete Thiel and his New Zealand plans are another more explicit example.

Well.... I'd go to NZ as well, given the chance.

In the upcoming world war, NZ will just be forgotten. It's even missing from many maps ;)

Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#102

Post by DyslexicAtheist »

cblconfederate wrote: post #9
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #6

I don't blame him for taking advantage of the system. What I blame him for is all of his supposed altruistic bloviating. No different than a Russian oligarch.

Why do people think this is a "bad thing"? It's no different than buying an expensive home anywhere in the world, except it comes with a citizenship. I doubt he can use the favorable taxation - he would have to renounce his US citizenship for that.

> I doubt he can use the favorable taxation

countries like Malta and Cyprus have plenty schemes under which they attract HNWI's like him. I'm surprised about Cyprus considering Schmidt is from the US which is an odd choice since it's usually Russians and Russian companies that launder their money through Cyprus.

Malta is much more popular among expat Brits and native English speakers and also (still) has a cleaner reputation compared to Cyprus.

Both jurisdictions fill a void that opened when Switzerland agreed to hand over data on US citizens to the USA. Technically Cyprus/Malta too shares data but while the Swiss banking is a lot cleaner now than it was 20 years ago and certainly lot of things are now impossible that places like Nevada, New Mexico etc still allow.

Both Cyprus/Malta have no shortage of crooks dressed as lawyers, accountants, notaries and bankers that will help him bypass the tax-men if he wants to but I strongly doubt that is the reason simply because he has better chances doing that at home. The US is now the biggest tax-haven in the world. It sounds more personal than this.

Maybe he is planning to do business with wealthy Russians (unlikely) maybe he watched Mama-Mia and is now obsessed with the idea of falling in love on a Greek island, or maybe he wants to live in a city that is politically divided as much as his home planet. (Nicosia) /s

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treasure_Islands:_Tax_Havens_a...

Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#103

Post by avgDev »

Teknoman117 wrote: post #96

Can he even get a second citizenship? As far as I was aware (as a US citizen myself), the US doesn't allow you become a citizen of another country without renouncing your US citizenship except in the very specific dual-citizenship scenarios regarding birth or familial ties. I know under the Obama administration the federal government had turned a blind eye to people not renouncing a prior citizenship when becoming a…

I have a dual citizenship.

From .gov site: "U.S. law does not mention dual nationality or require a person to choose one nationality or another. A U.S. citizen may naturalize in a foreign state without any risk to his or her U.S. citizenship. However, persons who acquire a foreign nationality after age 18 by applying for it may relinquish their U.S. nationality if they wish to do so. In order to relinquish U.S. nationality by virtue of naturalization as a citizen of a foreign state, the law requires that the person must apply for the foreign nationality voluntarily and with the intention to relinquish U.S. nationality. Intent may be shown by the person’s statements and conduct."

Link to source:https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/travel-lega....

Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#104

Post by chmod600 »

esarbe wrote: post #19
hn_throwaway_99 wrote: post #6

I don't blame him for taking advantage of the system. What I blame him for is all of his supposed altruistic bloviating. No different than a Russian oligarch.

Huh, why not? If not for people taking advantage of "the system", "the system" would not exist. I mean; here we have a guy that has taken all the advantage of all the benefits a developed industrial country has to offer and then in turn does everything in his power to give back as little as possible. Hell yeah I'm going to blame him. It's not moral behavior. I don't care whether it is legal or not, he's behaving like…

He should be forced to abide by the laws while he lives or does business here. But if he wants to live in a new place by a new set of laws in the future, I'm not sure what's wrong with that.

It seems more like you regret the laws in the US during the decades he was here, and you are hoping future changes in the law will retroactively address your concerns. But I see no moral basis for that stance.

If we want to change the law, we should be forced to consider the effects on the future, and whether those laws will negatively impact the wealth created in the future. If we start going back and seizing wealth from the past, that will give us a false sense that the laws are working, until the old money runs out and we look around and don't see anyone creating new wealth.

Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#105

Post by eli_gottlieb »

areoform wrote: post #67

If this is indeed for a tax dodge, what's funny is that the US Government helped fund Google. Or, more accurately, they funded the research into the seemingly esoteric problem that became Google; > In 1995, one of the first and most promising MDDS grants went to a computer-science research team at Stanford University with a decade-long history of working with NSF and DARPA grants. The primary objective of this grant…

The question, then, is why we bothered effectively handing Page and Brin free startup funds without claiming any IP or equity stake in the resulting products, then act surprised when they don't want to pay taxes on the money they made.

Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#106

Post by asenk »

nostromo wrote: post #71
bduerst wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Americans are currently blocked from travel to many countries, European included, due to the bungling of their Covid 19 response.

For what it's worth, the US is outperforming several EU member states with fewer deaths per population.

Outperforming indeed.

Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#107

Post by [deleted] »

eatmyshorts wrote: post #39
Barrin92 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buying one. Citizenship is something that ought to be earned and given to people who show that they want to live in and contribute to a country. People like Schmidt purchase themselves a tax excemption or freedom of movement in a world where ordinary people right now lose their jobs and are locked into their country.

American citizens living and working abroad still must pay taxes to the US Government. As far as I am aware, the US is the only country in the world with this requirement. There is a reason the FBAR requirement is often called the "fubar" requirement.

[deleted]

Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#108

Post by [deleted] »

lutorm wrote: post #72
Barrin92 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Buying one. Citizenship is something that ought to be earned and given to people who show that they want to live in and contribute to a country. People like Schmidt purchase themselves a tax excemption or freedom of movement in a world where ordinary people right now lose their jobs and are locked into their country.

Is it really so different from the "EB-5" immigrant investor visa, which gives a citizenship path to foreigners who invest at least $1.8M in the US?

[deleted]

Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#109

Post by pembrook »

Barrin92 wrote: post #34
magicalist wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's not moral behavior. Getting a second citizenship?

Buying one. Citizenship is something that ought to be earned and given to people who show that they want to live in and contribute to a country. People like Schmidt purchase themselves a tax excemption or freedom of movement in a world where ordinary people right now lose their jobs and are locked into their country.

There are no tax benefits to be had for US citizens trying to hide money abroad post-FATCA. None.

The US has the most draconian global tax system of any country in the world, and has the unique position of being able to actually enforce it due to the fact the USD is the reserve currency of the world and every country needs to stay on the good side of the US Treasury to transact in the global economy.

In fact, the laws are so strict, they make living abroad as an honest middle-class expat a total nightmare. I have friends who cannot find a single bank in their country that will work with them because of the reporting requirements of working with US citizens. They cannot save in foreign banks and they cannot invest either due to the US penalizing foreign Mutual fund/ETF purchases by private citizens.

Re: Eric Schmidt has applied to become a citizen of Cyprus

#110

Post by lb1lf »

nso wrote: post #63
eatmyshorts wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

American citizens living and working abroad still must pay taxes to the US Government. As far as I am aware, the US is the only country in the world with this requirement. There is a reason the FBAR requirement is often called the "fubar" requirement.

Norway has the same.

No, we don't. If you spend more than half the year in Norway, you are considered a resident for tax purposes, and chances are you will have to pay some tax.

However, income is not subject to double taxation; if you've already paid taxes in another jurisdiction, Norwegian authorities are not going to tax the same income again.

As opposed to the US.

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