Why Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin is a schmuck

When you reach a certain level of wealth, you'll begin to view your government more as a service provider than a community to which you belong (you're hyper-mobile so the world is your community). You can certainly afford to shop around, if you're willing to take the rough with the smooth (e.g. lower taxes under one government but perhaps a higher cost of living).

A strange but (I reckon) valid analogy: imagine if your first ever laptop had been a Dell. Using this laptop you made a fortune by starting a tech company, and with your newfound riches decided to buy a MacBook.

Should Dell be angry with you because you used their product to make a boatload of cash and then left them high and dry? No. There was a contract in the first instance which didn't specify a lifetime commitment, and you never stepped outside the bounds of that contract. You gave them their money when you bought the first laptop, and that was all you owed them.

In terms of governments, Eduardo Saverin had been paying US taxes for his entire working life. The system provides a strategy for opting out, but he's now paying an exit tax and he's lost any benefits that US citizenship and residency brought (like TSA patdowns and pepper spray incidents).

If you believe in making citizenship irrevocable, coupled with the global US tax burden (US citizens have to pay US tax on their worldwide income regardless of where they live), you'll put off swathes of future investors from coming to the USA. You're basically sending out a message that says "we're so paranoid that you'll leave that we're going to imprison you here"—like glassmakers on the island of Murano.

One of my favorite quotes about patriotism, comes from Mark Cuban:

The Most Patriotic Thing You Can Do: Bust your ass and get rich. Make a boatload of money. Pay your taxes.

So I certainly get the sentiment behind the article, but this is too much.

I cringed at the very end, with the blatant attacks on Singapore that made this piece seem more xenophobic than I could tolerate.

What an unbelievably unprofessional piece. I realize this is a personal blog, but I still wouldn't expect to see it on zdnet.

The fact of the matter is - whether you agree with his decision or not - Eduardo is a Brazilian who lives in Singapore, and has lived in the United States.

Who are we to decide where he belongs? Is he paying taxes to Brazil? Should he?

Corporations are tax efficient, billionaire investors are no different. Eduardo Saverin is a Brazilian, who has settled in Singapore. The only reason he'd retain US citizenship one presumes would be for patriotism or the safety of living in a developed nation. Neither are relevant to Eduardo Saverin.

This piece raises a point raised in Europe a lot regarding tax avoidance (not evasion). Sadly this piece is pathetically vile and borders on xenophobic. It paints the author, zdnet and Dell (the sponsor) in a poor light. It's the sort of comment I'd expect in right-wing reader comments on UK sites like the Telegraph or Mail :-(

Brazil and Singapore could also make a case that they've done a lot for Eduardo Saverin and that he owes them something. Should he pay taxes in all three countries?

Don't US citizens still have to pay taxes on their income (over a certain amount) each year even if they claim residency status in another country?

Why David Gewirtz is a schmuck. This.

Eduardo Saverin owes me nothing. His father moved him here for safety not wealth. It seems he (via his father) already had wealth. He went to Harvard. Harvard is a private school and someone paid for that... doubtful it was our tax money. Is the Government really subsidizing Harvard educations? Doubtful. Sure he made use of our legal system to get his due share of the company he helped found... so what? As a US citizen he was entitled to have his case heard in the court. And now he has decided to move to another country. So what? People leave the US all the time.