News From the Swamp: The Ex-Patriot Tax Grab

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from patriotpost.com
News From the Swamp: The Ex-Patriot Tax Grab

Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Robert Casey (D-PA) are proposing punitive
new provisions in the tax code to discourage millionaires such as Facebook
co-founder Eduardo Saverin from renouncing their citizenship to duck federal
income taxes. Citizens who leave the U.S. already pay an exit tax, and the
Department of Justice has the power to bar expatriates from returning if it
determines they left the country for tax reasons. Schumer and Casey's bill
goes further, stating that any expatriate with a net worth over $2 million
or a five-year average tax liability of at least $148,000 will automatically
be considered to have left the country for tax reasons. As per the IRS
doctrine of "guilty until proved innocent," individuals will have to
establish the legitimacy of their departure.

The bill is reminiscent of a policy from the former Soviet Union: You can
leave the country, but your assets stay behind. Conservatives rightly argue
that instead of raising the pain level, the U.S. must change its tax code so
that people like Saverin aren't tempted to take such drastic measures.
Unfortunately, Speaker John Boehner said that he supports the bill if it's
"necessary," which needlessly encouraged Democrat efforts.

Ideally, American citizenship is more than a cost/benefit analysis. However,
America should not be a place in which entrepreneurs aren't comfortable with
setting down roots elsewhere because the government punishes their hard work
with onerous taxes.