Schumer Proposes Tax on People Who Renounce Citizenship to Avoid Taxes

(NEW YORK) -- Sen. Schumer is asking for a 30 percent capital gains tax on people like Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin unless they can prove they didn't renounce their U.S. citizenship to avoid paying taxes, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

Saverin is estimated to save at least $67 million in income taxes by giving up his citizenship, according to Bloomberg data. The 30-year old billionaire who helped found Facebook Inc., was born in Brazil and became a U.S. citizen in 1998. He said in a statement on Thursday that his decision to give up his citizenship was based on his choice to reside and work in Singapore, where he has lived for the past three years.

Under Schumer's proposal, the Internal Revenue Service would impose a 30 percent capital gains tax on future investment gains of wealthy individuals who abandon their citizenship to avoid taxes, and would also ban them from re-entering the country, according to Bloomberg.

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