Here is the guy who took his life savings of $30,000 and parlayed it into a billion dollar fortune. Now he wants to expatriate and pay the piper millions to do so. What a circus this has created.
This in from Bloomberg
Facebook Inc. (FB) co-founder Eduardo Saverin, who became a billionaire through the social network’s initial public offering, said he’ll pay “hundreds of millions of dollars” in taxes to the U.S. government.
Singapore-based Saverin, who was born in Brazil and moved to the U.S. as a child, used his life savings of $30,000 to fund Mark Zuckerberg’s plan for a social-networking site. Facebook was valued at $104.2 billion and Saverin’s stake may be worth $2.89 billion.
Saverin renounced his U.S. citizenship last year, a move that could reduce his tax bill by at least $67 million, according to an analysis by Bloomberg. U.S. Senator Charles Schumer proposed legislation yesterday that would impose a capital gains tax on people who renounce their citizenship unless they prove their reasons don’t include avoiding taxes.
“My decision to expatriate was based solely on my interest in working and living in Singapore, where I have been since 2009,” Saverin said in a statement relayed by e-mail. “I am obligated to and will pay hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes to the United States government.”
The meaning of Saverin’s statement was unclear: Under U.S. tax law, he already owed income taxes as a result of dropping his passport. Bloomberg estimated his bill to be about $365 million triggered by the move.
Even Boehner is getting into the act.
Boehner
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Anti-Saverin ‘Ex-PATRIOT’ Bill
In a television interview, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives John Boehner has surprisingly come out in favour of the bill introduced in the Senate which is aimed against those who renounce their United States citizenship to avoid paying taxes.