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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

#251

Post by dundarious »

pembrook wrote: post #113
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…

This is not a tax dodge. There is no way to dodge taxes as a US citizen by moving abroad, the US is the only country in the world with a real global taxation system. EDIT further information I posted below: The US has the unique position of being able to actually enforce this 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…

I'm sure Erich Schmidt has access to resources not available to your friends. There is absolutely the potential for a tax angle to this application, perhaps involving creating business entities in Cyprus to avoid the IRS's reach. That is of course just my suspicion and I could be wrong, but I think my suspicions are reasonable enough to dispute the strength of your claims ("There is no tax dodge. There is no way to dodge...")

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

#252

Post by cblconfederate »

DyslexicAtheist wrote: post #102
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.

> 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 re…

cyprus has 12.5% tax (like Ireland) and are not in OECD's tax haven list since many years ago . They also participate in every EU exchange of information programs and audits etc. They aren't even considered cheap compared to other EU low-tax places

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

#253

Post by blue11 »

DSingularity wrote: post #43
CalChris wrote: post #21

Cyprus is the easiest (if expensive) way to get an EU passport which is useful for travel. I don't read much past that. He already has an army of lawyers and accountants to deal with his taxes. https://www.goldenvisas.com/cyprus

Why do you think Eric has problems traveling?

It's not about traveling. It's about staying as long as he wants to and whenever he wants to. American citizens are limited to staying 90 days (in any 180 day period) in the EU as tourists. An EU passport would allow him for example to take a 6-month vacation in France.

EDIT: The 90/180 rule is for the Schengen area, not the whole EU, and, yes, that includes Switzerland, which is not in the EU. Not sure what the rules are for the rest of the EU, but he probably cares about Schengen anyway.

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

#254

Post by kalonis »

cblconfederate wrote: post #85
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.

I would love to be able to buy and sell citizenship. It would greatly incentivize governments to be responsible.

No, it won't. It will incentivize governments to help rich people from all over the world avoid taxes.

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

#255

Post by cblconfederate »

rexarex wrote: post #232

This isn't new, all countries usually allow you to buy your way in using a "Golden Visa" program, including the USA and Canada. Typically it costs about $1 Million and some job creation/investment in the economy. Canadian Golden Visa Program AKA Quebec Immigrant Investment Program: https://citizenshipshop.com/product/canada-golden-visa/ AKA USA EB-5 Golden Visa: https://citizenshipshop.com/product/usa-golden-visa/

golden visa vs golden citizenship. the citizenship package is more expensive

(thanks for the link , interesting that a residence visa in canada costs only 250K)

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

#256

Post by esarbe »

danenania wrote: post #205
esarbe wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bailing on your taxes. Or what else do you think he's doing it for?

Are there US citizens here who wouldn’t take dual EU citizenship if it was offered to them? Taxes and social stability aside, Europe is full of nice places to visit, do business, and live. The value of being able to do these things without restrictions seems self-evident. I don’t see why you’d presume a nefarious motivation.

As an US citizen you can already visit all these places without restrictions. Why would you need EU citizenship for that?

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

#257

Post by areoform »

xyzzyz wrote: post #250
areoform wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Except, they don't. Mostly because of the "incentives" that Eric Schmidt mentioned. Science has always happened at the public purse for a reason - the timeline for returns is so unclear, and the timespan for fruition is so long that most people don't want to invest in this kind of science, rightly so. Goddard's research, or heck even the Wright Brothers, to go from a smidgen to the Saturn V or Boeing 737, took decade…

> Apple has $192.8 billion in cash on hand. What exactly is it doing with this money? Is it spending it on fundamental research in optics, laser communication, optical computing, and other stuff? No, it's not. Most of Apple’s “cash” is invested in corporate bonds, which allow other companies to access capital in order to expand their operations and grow their productivity, and most of the rest is in government bonds,…

Yes, Apple runs the largest hedge fund in the world, but the question isn't whether they're getting some return on their investment (I'm assured that their hedge fund is). But rather, where's the long-term research that's necessary for future growth and human prosperity?

If the logic of the comment I was replying to held, then Apple would be investing a commiserate amount into fundamental research. They're not. They'd rather seek a return (however, meagre) by buying bonds than fund research.

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

#258

Post by cblconfederate »

mFixman wrote: post #238

I don't understand why he does this. The IRS will tax him regardless of whether he has assets in the US or outside of it, and he's rich enough to get a working visa to anywhere. Does anyone know of any other possible tax advantage a rich American might get from Cypriot citizenship?

malta cyprus, ireland etc are useful for setting up business there . you can set up a local business that receives royalties from other companies and benefit from relatively low tax.

He s probably not doing it for taxes, but for a convenient EU passport and a humble abode in the mediterranean

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

#259

Post by gnicholas »

garmaine wrote: post #150
1over137 wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

His step 2 could then be to renounce his US citizenship.

In which case you pay an "exit tax" equivalent to the tax hit from liquidating all your assets, e.g. capgains on all held stock. Renouncing citizenship never works as a tax dodge, unless you have some reason to expect large future gains in your assets that aren't reflected in their current market prices.

> Renouncing citizenship never works as a tax dodge, unless you have some reason to expect large future gains in your assets that aren't reflected in their current market prices.

It also could make sense if you expect future income tax rates to be much higher, or if you expect new taxes (e.g., wealth taxes) to be enacted.

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

#260

Post by cblconfederate »

kalonis wrote: post #254
cblconfederate wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would love to be able to buy and sell citizenship. It would greatly incentivize governments to be responsible.

No, it won't. It will incentivize governments to help rich people from all over the world avoid taxes.

why? what s the use of having them as citizens if they won't pay taxes
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