What price U.S. citizenship?

 

HONG KONG — We read about famous people like French film star Gerard Depardieu, who moved to Belgium to avoid a 75 percent income tax on millionaires proposed by France’s Socialist government (a measure rejected last week by a French council, though French leadership has vowed to resubmit a similar proposal). Then there is Eduardo Saverin, who took the extreme step of giving up his U.S. citizenship and could see a savings of $39 million on his Facebook investment, according to the research firm Wealth-X. He says business reasons, rather than high taxes, were his primary motivation.
I had read about financially motivated expatriates but never knew one who had taken the ultimate step until I visited with my longtime friend “Sam” (I’m withholding his real name to protect his current employment). Sam works for a large investment firm. He has lived here for the last 25 years.
He says that five years ago, he began thinking he could no longer “afford to be an American.” Contributing to his decision was the cost of sending his five children to college. Even though he and his wife pay taxes on a home in California, the state has denied them in-state college tuition, meaning it could cost them $50,000 per child. While there is a $95,100 earned U.S. income tax exclusion, Sam says it isn’t enough to substantially reduce his U.S. taxes and still cover his costs.
Here is how burdensome U.S. tax laws have become: Seven years ago, Sam left a major investment banking firm based in the U.S. to join another international bank. The law required that his 14 years of pension savings become current income and taxed it at a rate of 35 percent. He says he could not roll over the account due to a “quirk” in the law. Hong Kong citizens are taxed at a rate of only 15 percent.
Another consideration, he says, was the refusal by Hong Kong banks to allow him to open a securities account. The reason? “None wanted to deal with onerous U.S. reporting requirements. My own bank could not even open an account for me to invest in local securities.”

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By : Cal Thomas