This was possible in the past for Americans, but it doesn't make sense anymore. That's the truth. The secretive Swiss banks and numbered accounts you read about in adventure novels as a kid are all reporting on US citizens now.
It doesn't matter how much resources Eric Schmidt has, the US government has more resources and power than Eric Schmidt. Especially given he's a widely known public figure, he'd be the perfect target of any investigation.
US taxes are already extremely favorable to the rich. Do you seriously think he'd risk his freedom and reputation over something so stupid?
Banks saying one thing and doing another.
There is no "the US government has more resources" – like it's a big blob. It comes down to something like the IRS enforcement division, which is consistently getting kneecapped with budget cuts. So no, actually it really is between your 15 high priced lawyers and whatever team of 5 people the IRS has working your case with limited time because they're stretched thin.
The US treasury is not handicapped by regulation in the same way the IRS is. We’re talking extradition and jail time, not just having to pay back taxes.
The Venn diagram of banks where you’d feel safe storing millions of dollars and that would also be willing to help you defraud the US Treasury are exceedingly small. It’s just not practical.
You only need 1. However, the solution isn’t to move money from your account to a bank which then hides what’s going in from the US government. The solution is to make a terrible investment say buying land from Bob for 10 million only to sell it to Sally for 5 million. Meanwhile an associate of Bob, Sally, or both moves 4 million to a holding company owned by you.
That gets 4 million in a secret account, let’s you offset capital 5 million in capital gains, and pays 1 million for money laundering.
Repeat as needed. Sure, 4 million in a hidden account is less useful day to day, but it’s insurance if you need to flee the country or happened to go bankrupt etc.
4 million in a stash account is nothing more than weekend vacation money.
Let's be honest, for most people hiding your money from the government, just means you can't access it anymore---which makes it essentially useless to you. For the current day mega-rich, they don't have any ties to the maffia, or other shady operations that would incentivize them having black-money funds.
Re-invest your money for low taxes, pay your taxes, and you will still be a billionaire next year, and won't have to every worry about black helicopters snatching you from your yacht.
It’s a mistake to think of Money as a fungible assets without any distinguishing characteristics. Set aside 10% in ultra safe investments and your protected from market crashes but not the government freezing your assets, bankruptcy, or your ex wife taking you to the cleaners. Schmidt would be a fool not to set aside ~50 million in some hidden accounts specifically because it’s a small enough amount as to be meaningless today, but plenty of money to hide out comfortably in a non extradition country.
Or if you're Russian, a condo in Trump Tower, NY...
I only claim two things. One, that by most reasonable definitions, Cyprus is a tax haven -- there is even a recent sordid history there, exposed in The Cyprus Papers. And two, given tax havens are often used as a means to minimize tax in transferring wealth from one generation to the next [0] among other things, I think it's a dubious claim to say "There is no dodge" as you have so unequivocally done.
[0] Via Panama and Jersey, not Cyprus, but for example these schemes were used by David Cameron's father, and by Jimmy Carr before he bowed to public pressure -- all quite legal and non-magical, and I'm sure US citizens could use similar schemes, in spite of their global reach. https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2012/apr/20/cameron-fam...
It's simply not possible to do stuff like that anymore.
There absolutely are sophisticated tax structures both domestically and internationally that do require a certain degree of scale to benefit from them, though past a certain point make less sense.
That being said, I think you are right about Schmidt. It can't be for something so simple, being that high profile.
It is possible to use such structures in some cases without needing to give up your US citizenship.
But there are plenty of non-tax reasons to get a second citizenship.
What other reasons are there to seek citizenship in a country like Cyprus?
Coincidentally, Eric Schmidt was a big supporter of Biden's plan to "tax the rich". The _other_ rich, that is, not himself, of course.
I would say Norway is an outlier too due to oil revenues and other quirks. The only large nation in that list is Spain.
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