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He's going to regret this down the road. Yes taxing on Worldwide income is absurd but not more absurd than giving up your right to live in the US. There will come a day, probably not too far in the future, where being young and rich on a tiny island isn't fun anymore and he's going to want to do something with his life. He's going to be quite sad when doing it in the United States is no longer an option.
Singapore in not an island.
He's going to regret this down the road. Yes taxing on Worldwide income is absurd but not more absurd than giving up your right to live in the US. There will come a day, probably not too far in the future, where being young and rich on a tiny island isn't fun anymore and he's going to want to do something with his life. He's going to be quite sad when doing it in the United States is no longer an option.
Some friends of mine are yelling "see? our tax code is pushing capital overseas!" My argument is, that with $4B at stake, even if we had a "reasonable" income tax, people like this would still seek out tax havens where the burden is even lower still.
To a multibillionaire, the value of retaining American citizenship could easily be hundreds of millions of dollars. Or it might be much lower in that. The degree of which citizens seek tax havens will be proportional to the level of taxation, not a black-and-white yes-or-no thing.
To someone with a couple million dollars, having that U.S. flag on their passport does afford a great deal of freedom and security. But, with several billion, you can pretty much buy all the freedom and security you can get.
But I guess with so much cash it won't be a problem.
US citizenship is a nasty trap from which it is extremely difficult to escape. The US is one of a very small number of countries which will happily tax its citizens on income earned overseas, thus causing them to pay double taxes on everything they earn. This has seriously bad consequences for US competitiveness, in particular: 1. It discourages competent foreign citizens from seeking US citizenship (a greencard is s…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
And if ever trade with Cuba of many of the countries the US is at war with, you will face criminal charges even long after you have given up your green card. Hong Kong, Singapore, Switzerland. Get yourself a permanent residency in at least one of those three.
Singapore permanent residents are required to do 24 months of military service, and in addition, show up for annual refresher training every year until they turn 40. I'm currently an American expat who has to file a 1040 once a year, and I would gladly continue doing that rather than spend a bunch of my time in the Singaporean military...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
We should give people a number of votes proportional to how much money they have, to give wealthy people more incentive to stay.
That is a joke right? (I really hope so)
In the election for the House of Representatives, everyone gets an equal vote. In the election for the House of Taxpayers, everyone gets a vote precisely proportional to how much tax they pay.
That way, the interests of everybody are balanced -- the folks who are affected by a new law and the folks who have to pay for the new law have both signed off on it.
It's a pipe dream, I know, but it'd be nice to see a country where the most competent citizens are appreciated rather than punished.
You can't escape US taxation by giving up citizenship. He will have to pay the exit tax instituted in the 2008 Heroes Earning Assistance and Relief Tax Act (HEART) on all unrealized gains he has worldwide because his net worth is likely greater than $2 million. I believe it is set at 30%. As Facebook has announced the strike price, the value of the company and what his tax liability is, already has a very dollar valu…
On the ten-year tax shadow: How would that even work? If you were no longer a citizen, what claim would the US have on your money?
US citizenship is a nasty trap from which it is extremely difficult to escape. The US is one of a very small number of countries which will happily tax its citizens on income earned overseas, thus causing them to pay double taxes on everything they earn. This has seriously bad consequences for US competitiveness, in particular: 1. It discourages competent foreign citizens from seeking US citizenship (a greencard is s…
Also, US citizenship is not a "trap" in Eduardo's case. It was his choice to become an American citizen in the first place.