You can't De-Friend a Country

United States Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Pennsylvania’s own Bob Casey announced they will soon be unveiling the “Ex-PATRIOT” Act (standing for “Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy), mandating people who “expatriate for a substantial tax purpose – as judged by the Internal Revenue Service” to pay a 30 percent tax on future capital gains, and would make it illegal for those ex-citizens to re-enter the country. The law is a direct response to Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s recent denunciation of U.S. Citizenship – presumably to save an estimated $67 million in capital gains taxes when Facebook makes its Initial Public Offering today. Saverin owns an estimated 4 percent of Facebook’s total stock, and is currently a resident of Singapore. Last year, 1,700 people renounced their United States citizenship.