What Facebook, Expatriation and The Ex-Patriot Act Have In Common?

By James F. McDonough, Jr. on June 4th, 2012

The answer is Eduardo Saverin, the Facebook insider who renounced his U.S. citizenship in September of 2011 to become a citizen of Singapore. When news of Facebook’s initial public offering was disclosed, the fact that Mr. Saverin was no longer a United States citizen (and taxpayer) come to light. In response, United States Senators Casey and Schumer proposed legislation that would prevent the evasion of taxes by means of expatriation. The proposed statute would also prohibit these former citizens from re-entry into the U.S.

Mr. Saverin was a US citizen for ten years, having come here from his native Brazil. Mr. Saverin denies that he renounced his U.S citizenship for tax reasons although it is true that he has no long-standing ties to the US and no longer works at Facebook. Notwithstanding the denial, financial considerations had to have played some part in his decision.