Gekko

ANOTHER shot has been fired in the eternal war between taxpayer and tax collector. When the new immigration law goes into effect, among the “excludable” categories will be former U.S. citizens who renounced their citizenship to avoid taxes. You may recall the congressional speechifying a couple of years ago about Ken Dart, the plastic-cup tycoon, who turned himself into a Belizean citizen. There were some who believed he took on this honor to reduce his tax burden.

Others have chosen more prosaic countries. One of the Campbell’s Soup heirs has become Irish, and other acquaintances of mine have evinced interest in this solution to the problem of U.S. estate taxes. Becoming Irish, after all, sounds as if it could be a harmless eccentricity. It’s definitely the high end of expatriation, with a reported price tag, in the form of required local investments, of over a million dollars. But then you’re a resident of the European Community, which is generally considered a more stable part of the world than the Caribbean. The low end of acquired citizenship may be anchored by the Turks & Caicos, an island nation north of Haiti famous as a punching bag for hurricanes. Turks & Caicos citizenship is on offer for something like $5,000. A bargain, and you don’t have to wait around for a cut in estate taxes, since there are none. But if you have the money, you might find the $995,000 premium for Irish citizenship makes sense in that moment when you face a beady-eyed Customs official.

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ANOTHER shot has been fired in the eternal war between taxpayer and tax collector. When the new immigration law goes into effect, among the “excludable” categories will be former U.S. citizens who renounced their citizenship to avoid taxes. You may recall the congressional speechifying a couple of years ago about Ken Dart, the plastic-cup tycoon, who turned himself into a Belizean citizen. There were some who believed he took on this honor to reduce his tax burden.

Others have chosen more prosaic countries. One of the Campbell’s Soup heirs has become Irish, and other acquaintances of mine have evinced interest in this solution to the problem of U.S. estate taxes. Becoming Irish, after all, sounds as if it could be a harmless eccentricity. It’s definitely the high end of expatriation, with a reported price tag, in the form of required local investments, of over a million dollars. But then you’re a resident of the European Community, which is generally considered a more stable part of the world than the Caribbean. The low end of acquired citizenship may be anchored by the Turks & Caicos, an island nation north of Haiti famous as a punching bag for hurricanes. Turks & Caicos citizenship is on offer for something like $5,000. A bargain, and you don’t have to wait around for a cut in estate taxes, since there are none. But if you have the money, you might find the $995,000 premium for Irish citizenship makes sense in that moment when you face a beady-eyed Customs official.