He’s Outta Here (and I Can’t Say I Blame Him)!

Outside of the first time I tried swinging a driver, there have been few examples of ineptitude that could match the much-anticipated and far more disappointing IPO of Facebook. As of this writing, the social media platform had dipped below $34 a share, and NASDAQ had to answer a whole lot of questions from angry investors about how well prepared it was to handle one of the largest initial public offerings in history when internal glitches delayed information about whether trades had been executed.

But one of the far more interesting sub-plots amid the company’s recent Wall Street frenzy was the fact that Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin renounced his U.S. citizenship in an effort to save himself $67 million in capital gains taxes. Saverin, who had been living in Singapore since 2009, abdicated his citizenship last September, no doubt buoyed by the anticipation of someone from the IRS knocking on his door claiming to be his new best friend.

Well, that was too much for Sens. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.), who last week unveiled a proposal to re-impose taxes on expatriates like Saverin, despite fleeing the U.S. and assuming a residence in a foreign country. Their joint plan would also bar individuals like Saverin from reentering our shores if he or similar dissidents avoid paying their fair share of taxes in full.

Schumer and Casey’s proposal, titled the Ex-PATRIOT Act (“Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy” Act), states that any expatriate with either a net worth of $2 million or an average income tax liability of at least $148,000 over the last five years, will be presumed to have renounced their citizenship for tax avoidance purposes.

Now I find this interesting for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, Schumer — who never met a microphone or TV camera he didn’t like — did his best impression of a street mime a few years ago when Paychex founder and billionaire Tom Golisano left New York State and declared legal residence in Florida citing the $13,000 a day he was paying in New York State income taxes. But should someone depart for another country for the same purpose, that sparks an outrage and terms like “evader” and tax traitor are lobbed freely.

Second, a number of people who obviously are far-better briefed on Constitutional Law than either Schumer or Casey pointed out that revenue-raising bills (i.e. tax bills) can only be introduced in the House and not in the Senate.

And lastly, this should send a message to lawmakers about the competitive (or more accurately non-competitive) rate of the capital gains tax.

But that’s fodder for a future blog.

In the interim, the golfing world will be happy to know that I can no longer be charged with assault with a deadly weapon as my weekends are consumed by tennis. And my capital gains in 2011 were just enough to take the family on an all-expense-paid trip to Denny’s.