Lawmakers to Saverin: Don't Come Back

'Ex-PATRIOT' Act to punish those who try to dodge taxes
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted May 17, 2012 10:06 AM CDT
Lawmakers to Saverin: Don't Come Back
Eduardo Saverin, co-founder of Facebook attends the 7th Annual Common Sense Media Awards honoring Bill Clinton at Gotham Hall on April 28, 2011 in New York City.   (Getty Images)

Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin's decision to renounce his US citizenship—and, conveniently, a lot of the taxes from his expected IPO windfall—has struck a nerve on Capitol Hill. Chuck Schumer and Bob Casey will today announce a new bill called the "Ex-PATRIOT Act" (a typically dopey acronym meaning "Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy"), ABC reports. They said the bill is a direct response to Saverin's "scheme" to "duck up to $67 million in taxes."

The bill would re-impose taxes on expatriates, set a 30% capital gains tax rate on them, and forbid them from ever returning to the US. But that last part might not even be necessary; Talking Points Memo notes that US law specifically bans "former citizens who renounced citizenship to avoid taxation" from obtaining a US visa. That might be one reason that Saverin's lawyer has been trying to argue that his decision isn't tax-related. (More Eduardo Saverin stories.)

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