7 ms·

Wouldn't he be able to form business ventures in Cyprus in which he could own a stake, but which would pay him very little taxable income? Furthermore, wouldn't

by m0zg 6y ago

Wouldn't he be able to form business ventures in Cyprus in which he could own a stake, but which would pay him very little taxable income? Furthermore, wouldn't he be able to grow those ventures and later take a distribution when his pals in US Congress abolish the "global taxation" nonsense? Or alternatively, by renouncing US citizenship? What other reasons are there to seek citizenship in a country like Cyprus?

tlarkworthy 6y ago
It's an easy way for European citizenship
- m0zg 6y ago
  A lot of European states have a wealth tax as well as estate tax, which is not a good thing for an old dude worth $17B. Heck, it's not even a good deal for someone like me, if you run the numbers. Coincidentally, Eric Schmidt was a big supporter of Biden's plan to "tax the rich". The _other_ rich, that is, not himself, of course.
  - tlarkworthy 6y ago
    Um, I don't think they do (I am from UK living in Germany). "Spain, Norway, Switzerland, and Belgium"[1] have a wealth tax, Switzerland is not in EU. So 3 of 27 EU nations have wealth tax. I would say Norway is an outlier too due to oil revenues and other quirks. The only large nation in that list is Spain. [1] https://taxfoundation.org/wealth-tax-europe/ https://taxfoundation.org/wealth-tax-europe/
ryanlol 6y ago
He does not need to be a citizen to form a business or establish tax residency in Cyprus.
michaelrosmer 6y ago
He can set up business ventures in Cyprus regardless but that wouldn't help him much in most cases as he's then going to trigger all the controlled foreign companies rules and if he renounces his US citizenship he's over the $2 million asset threshold so he'll have an exit tax, I think it's highly unlikely he'll ever do that, though he might be setting up his family members to do so since under most of these programs you get citizenship not only for you but also for your family. Someone in Eric's position will most benefit from the use of trusts and charities to improve his tax position. But Cyprus citizenship has tons of other advantages: 1. Having an EU citizenship allows you to live and spend an unlimited amount of time in any EU member state vs 90 days out of every 180 days for a normal American so if he wants to retire to a beach in Spain for 5 months at a time he can't currently do so but this will allow him to 2. It gives him visa free travel to various parts of the world that he might not otherwise have, most notably Russia. If you're in Eric's position and say you want to do some business and investing in Russia the hassles related to travel might not be worth it for you and it makes it so much easier if you've got a second passport that allows you to go without issue 3. As mentioned you're setting up your family for a future with more options 4. You're creating a back up plan for yourself
- m0zg 6y ago
  As an aside, BTW, I would not recommend setting up any business ventures in Russia at the moment. Rumors have been swirling that Putin has Parkinsons, and will announce his departure in January. Kremlin denies, of course, but Duma (Russian parliament) is currently working on legislation granting former presidents _very_ broad immunity even after the presidency ends. The fact that they're working on something like that with like 4 years to go in Putin's presidential term is unlikely to be a coincidence.

by m0zg 6y ago

tlarkworthy 6y ago

It's an easy way for European citizenship

m0zg 6y ago
A lot of European states have a wealth tax as well as estate tax, which is not a good thing for an old dude worth $17B. Heck, it's not even a good deal for someone like me, if you run the numbers. Coincidentally, Eric Schmidt was a big supporter of Biden's plan to "tax the rich". The _other_ rich, that is, not himself, of course.
- tlarkworthy 6y ago
  Um, I don't think they do (I am from UK living in Germany). "Spain, Norway, Switzerland, and Belgium"[1] have a wealth tax, Switzerland is not in EU. So 3 of 27 EU nations have wealth tax. I would say Norway is an outlier too due to oil revenues and other quirks. The only large nation in that list is Spain. [1] https://taxfoundation.org/wealth-tax-europe/ https://taxfoundation.org/wealth-tax-europe/

ryanlol 6y ago

He does not need to be a citizen to form a business or establish tax residency in Cyprus.

michaelrosmer 6y ago

He can set up business ventures in Cyprus regardless but that wouldn't help him much in most cases as he's then going to trigger all the controlled foreign companies rules and if he renounces his US citizenship he's over the $2 million asset threshold so he'll have an exit tax, I think it's highly unlikely he'll ever do that, though he might be setting up his family members to do so since under most of these programs you get citizenship not only for you but also for your family. Someone in Eric's position will most benefit from the use of trusts and charities to improve his tax position. But Cyprus citizenship has tons of other advantages: 1. Having an EU citizenship allows you to live and spend an unlimited amount of time in any EU member state vs 90 days out of every 180 days for a normal American so if he wants to retire to a beach in Spain for 5 months at a time he can't currently do so but this will allow him to 2. It gives him visa free travel to various parts of the world that he might not otherwise have, most notably Russia. If you're in Eric's position and say you want to do some business and investing in Russia the hassles related to travel might not be worth it for you and it makes it so much easier if you've got a second passport that allows you to go without issue 3. As mentioned you're setting up your family for a future with more options 4. You're creating a back up plan for yourself

m0zg 6y ago
As an aside, BTW, I would not recommend setting up any business ventures in Russia at the moment. Rumors have been swirling that Putin has Parkinsons, and will announce his departure in January. Kremlin denies, of course, but Duma (Russian parliament) is currently working on legislation granting former presidents _very_ broad immunity even after the presidency ends. The fact that they're working on something like that with like 4 years to go in Putin's presidential term is unlikely to be a coincidence.