As you may recall Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin has been getting a lot of grief over his decision to renounce his United States citizenship and live in Singapore. Most of the concern revolved around him escaping high income taxes that would be owed on his 4% share of Facebook, which is set to go public tomorrow.
Earlier today senator Charles Schumer introduced a new act called the “Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy” act that would make it necessary for all individuals who renounce their citizenship to pay a 30% capital gains tax on their investments and give up their ability to ever reenter the United States. Furthermore, Schumer attacked Saverin’s plans to renounce his citizenship, calling it “a scam” and an “outrage”.
Now Saverin is responding to the allegations and has issued a response to those who say he’s leaving the country to avoid taxation and that he is running some sort of scam. CNN has posted his full statement of affairs.
Here are a few key segments from his statement:
“My decision to expatriate was based solely on my interest in working and living in Singapore, where I have been since 2009. I am obligated to and will pay hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes to the United States government. I have paid and will continue to pay any taxes due on everything I earned while a U.S. citizen.”
“…I invested my life’s savings into a start-up company that initially was run out of a college dorm room. Since then the company has expanded dramatically, has created thousands of jobs in the United States…”
“I will continue to invest in U.S. businesses and start-ups, and believe and hope that those investments will create many new jobs in the U.S. and globally.”
To read Eduardo’s full statement follow the links above to CNN’s coverage of this event. We will be following the story of Saverin’s renouncement and what happens to his investments. Check back here for more news as the story unfolds.