We reported last week that Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin has renounced his U.S. citizenship as per an internal revenue service reports. But the real reasons for Saverin’s move may have to do with more than taxes, according to publications Time and the Wall Street Journal, Saverin renounced his citizenship way back in September of last year, and now lives in Singapore, which doesn’t levy a capital gains tax.
Saverin spokesman Tom Goodman told WSJ, “U.S. citizens are severely restricted as to what they can invest in and where they can maintain accounts,” said spokesman Tom Goodman. “Many foreign funds and banks won’t accept Americans. This was a financial rather than a tax motive.” The spokesman further said Mr. Saverin plans to continue to invest in tech companies around the world, including the U.S. “His decision had nothing to do with dissatisfaction here, but with his strong desire to do business there,” Mr. Goodman said. He also plans a charitable foundation.
John Tamny hails the Saverin as something of “an American hero for doing what he did.” As Tamny figures it, Saverin’s essential maneuver will … hopefully get Americans thinking once again about our wrongheaded system of taxation. … When individuals resist governmental hubris, we should exalt their actions. … Assuming nosebleed rates of taxation were a driver of Saverin’s decision, politicians will hopefully see that if too greedy about collecting the money of others, they’ll eventually collect nothing.
