Thread: Multimillionaire Renounced U.S. Citizenship, Slams ‘Tyrants’ Who Won’t Let Him Return

1/13/2015 @ 10:46PM 11,019 views

Citizenship Renunciation Fee Hiked 422%, And You Can't Come Back

Tax rules for U.S. citizens are notoriously unforgiving and notoriously expansive, even for those living abroad. They are one reason the uptick in American expatriations is continuing.

In fact, given the demand, the State Department raised the fee for renunciation of U.S. citizenship from $450 to $2,350. That is more than twenty times the average level in other high-income countries. The State Department says it’s about demand on their services and all the extra workload they have to process people who are on their way out.

But regardless of what motivates a person to renounce, you can come back to see friends and relatives, right? It’s an assumption that may not be a safe one these days, at least for some. Take so-called Bitcoin Jesus Roger Ver, a Bitcoin entrepreneur and angel investor. He funded Blockchain, Ripple, and Blockpay. His ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ label came for giving thousands of them away. And now, he can’t come back to America.

Mr. Ver was born in the U.S., making him a citizen, but he renounced it in March 2014. As Coindesk reports, the U.S. refused a request for a non-immigrant visa. Mr. Ver says the U.S. embassy in Barbados refused to even consider the evidence for his application. The official reasoning was that Mr. Ver does not have sufficient ties to new Caribbean home and failed to demonstrate his “ties that will compel [him] to return to your home country after your travel to the United States,” according to a picture he tweeted of a letter that appears to be from the embassy. Still, some of America’s Ver-phobia could be because of his launch of a website to help wealthy people buy citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis.


With global tax reporting and FATCA, the list of the individuals who renounce keeps going up, and many claim that many aren’t counted. Of those on the official list, 2013 saw a 221% increase, with record numbers renouncing. The Treasury Department is required to publish a quarterly list, but these numbers are under-stated. Notably, the presence or absence of tax motivation is not relevant, but that could change. After Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin departed for Singapore, Senators Chuck Schumer and Bob Casey introduced a bill to double the exit tax to 30% for anyone leaving the U.S. for tax reasons.

To leave America, you generally must prove 5 years of U.S. tax compliance. If you have a net worth greater than $2 million or average annual net income tax for the 5 previous years of $157,000 or more for 2014 (that’s tax, not income), you pay an exit tax. It is a capital gain tax as if you sold your property when you left. At least there’s an exemption of $680,000 for 2014. Long-term residents giving up a Green Card can be required to pay the tax too.

No one is likely to want to pay an exit tax if they can avoid it. And sometimes planning and valuations can reduce or even eliminate the tax. But taxed or not, many still seem to be headed for the exits. Some groups are especially vocal about their tax plight. Dual citizens in Canada who are trying to shed their U.S. citizenship have created a backlog at the U.S. consulate in Toronto.

A decision to expatriate should not be taken lightly. Taxes or not, it can be a big step. Around the world, many people are talking about taking it. What’s more, increasing numbers of people are actually doing it.

For alerts to future tax articles, follow me on Forbes. You can reach me atWood@WoodLLP.com. This discussion is not intended as legal advice, and cannot be relied upon for any purpose without the services of a qualified professional.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwo...bitcoin-jesus/

Flow My Tears Said The Bitcoinman

Jerk Baby Billionaire Renounces U.S. Citizenship To Skip Taxes, Cries Tyranny When He Can’t Come Home

Jan 14 12:45 pm 2015

image: http://img.wonkette.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/Man-without-a-country.jpg


Let’s all have a good sympathy cry for Roger Ver, a squintillionaire investor scumbag who decided to put his Ayn Rand fantasies into action by renouncing his U.S. citizenship so he wouldn’t be oppressed by taxes. He took up residence in the tropical paradise (and tax haven) of St. Kitts, but when he tried to visit the U.S. of A for some tech-asshole conference, his visa application was rejected. Ver took to the Twitter machine to whine about tyrants and post Darth Vader pictures.

Ver is most displeased at how shabbily he’s been treated by the nation that he’s severed his social contract with, and

complains that the decision has forced him to miss speaking appointments at conferences and that the US embassy in Barbados refused to even consider the evidence for his application.

Poor sweet baby.

Mr. Ver got filthy rich as an entrepreneur and investor, and acquired the nickname “Bitcoin Jesus” because he gave away thousands of the virtual currency units for free back in its early days. He gave his U.S. citizenship the heave-ho in March 2014, and his visa application appears to have been snubbed because the State Department is worried he’ll become an illegal immigrant moocher:

The official reasoning behind Ver’s rejection is that he doesn’t have sufficient “ties” to his country of residency in the Caribbean and has not demonstrated he has “the ties that will compel [him] to return to your home country after your travel to the United States,” according to a picture he tweeted of a letter that appears to be from the embassy.

You want to come here, Roger? Get in line with the steerage passengers, and make it clear that you’re going to go back home to Galt’s Gulch when your trip is over. Maybe you could leave a deposit to make sure you get the hell out.

Bloomberg notes that in addition to skipping out on participation in the American polity himself, Ver has also been trying to encourage other rich assholes to renounce their ties to God’s Own Green Earth so they can be free and unencumbered in a Caribbean pirate paradise, too. In June, he started a website encouraging likeminded Achievers to renounce America and join him in St. Kitts.

But now The Man Who’s Very ****y can’t come home, poor thing.

Oh, wait — he’s already at home and he can damned well stay there.

Guess he can always teleconference, using the internet, although if he truly had any integrity, he’d renounce using any infrastructure that was paid for by taxes, which are Theft. Pity, though — going off the grid would make his imaginary money worthless.

Read more at http://wonkette.com/572284/jerk-baby...wXuCTtfS6Cb.99

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

1/13/2015 @ 10:46PM 11,019 views

Citizenship Renunciation Fee Hiked 422%, And You Can't Come Back

Tax rules for U.S. citizens are notoriously unforgiving and notoriously expansive, even for those living abroad. They are one reason the uptick in American expatriations is continuing.

In fact, given the demand, the State Department raised the fee for renunciation of U.S. citizenship from $450 to $2,350. That is more than twenty times the average level in other high-income countries. The State Department says it’s about demand on their services and all the extra workload they have to process people who are on their way out.

But regardless of what motivates a person to renounce, you can come back to see friends and relatives, right? It’s an assumption that may not be a safe one these days, at least for some. Take so-called Bitcoin Jesus Roger Ver, a Bitcoin entrepreneur and angel investor. He funded Blockchain, Ripple, and Blockpay. His ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ label came for giving thousands of them away. And now, he can’t come back to America.

Mr. Ver was born in the U.S., making him a citizen, but he renounced it in March 2014. As Coindesk reports, the U.S. refused a request for a non-immigrant visa. Mr. Ver says the U.S. embassy in Barbados refused to even consider the evidence for his application. The official reasoning was that Mr. Ver does not have sufficient ties to new Caribbean home and failed to demonstrate his “ties that will compel [him] to return to your home country after your travel to the United States,” according to a picture he tweeted of a letter that appears to be from the embassy. Still, some of America’s Ver-phobia could be because of his launch of a website to help wealthy people buy citizenship in St. Kitts and Nevis.


With global tax reporting and FATCA, the list of the individuals who renounce keeps going up, and many claim that many aren’t counted. Of those on the official list, 2013 saw a 221% increase, with record numbers renouncing. The Treasury Department is required to publish a quarterly list, but these numbers are under-stated. Notably, the presence or absence of tax motivation is not relevant, but that could change. After Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin departed for Singapore, Senators Chuck Schumer and Bob Casey introduced a bill to double the exit tax to 30% for anyone leaving the U.S. for tax reasons.

To leave America, you generally must prove 5 years of U.S. tax compliance. If you have a net worth greater than $2 million or average annual net income tax for the 5 previous years of $157,000 or more for 2014 (that’s tax, not income), you pay an exit tax. It is a capital gain tax as if you sold your property when you left. At least there’s an exemption of $680,000 for 2014. Long-term residents giving up a Green Card can be required to pay the tax too.

No one is likely to want to pay an exit tax if they can avoid it. And sometimes planning and valuations can reduce or even eliminate the tax. But taxed or not, many still seem to be headed for the exits. Some groups are especially vocal about their tax plight. Dual citizens in Canada who are trying to shed their U.S. citizenship have created a backlog at the U.S. consulate in Toronto.

A decision to expatriate should not be taken lightly. Taxes or not, it can be a big step. Around the world, many people are talking about taking it. What’s more, increasing numbers of people are actually doing it.

For alerts to future tax articles, follow me on Forbes. You can reach me atWood@WoodLLP.com. This discussion is not intended as legal advice, and cannot be relied upon for any purpose without the services of a qualified professional.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/robertwo...bitcoin-jesus/

Ha! Ha! Ha! That is hilarious! Oh my God, these stupid DemoQuacks are just poorly played spooks for the IRS. So now, renouncing your citizenship cost you money? And they're raising the fees to try to keep you here even though they can't stand your libertarian guts? That is truly the funniest thing I've heard in a long time. And they're charging Green Card residents, too? These "excess legal immigrants" we shouldn't have let into the country to begin with who came here and stole jobs and educations and welfare, now can't leave without paying ... an income tax based exit fee??!!

Oh Jesus, I hope these stories go viral, because if there was ever a justification for the FairTax, this is it!

Who cares if he returns to his home country? He's not under any obligation to return to his home country when he leaves the US, he can go to Europe or Russia or back to Tokyo or anywhere else he wants to go. And furthermore, if the State Department didn't take time to review his application, then how in the hell do they know what his ties are to his new country of citizenship? He didn't apply for an immigrant visa, he applied for a NON-Immigrant visa, so no, he would not become an illegal immigrant moocher. He has his own money, he has his own life, he only wanted to speak at the convention, he is not a terrorist, has no history of violence, he's simply a libertarian who spoke out publicly against ATF over Waco, and he is as entitled as anyone else to enter the US on a non-immigrant visa.

Firecrackers EXPLODE.
(That's why they go BOOM.)
Things that explode are by definition EXPLOSIVES.
[They are also flammable.]
That's why you have to have a license to sell them.
That's why you can't store 49 pounds of them in an apartment building.
Why you can't send them thru the U.S. MAIL.

. . . "Pest Control Report 2000" (PCR 2000) firecrackers that each contained nearly 1,000 milligrams of explosive powder, which is far in excess of the legal limit for consumer firecrackers. These firecrackers, if used by consumers, could cause serious injuries or death...

@ http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/News...gal-Fireworks/
​
=========================
How many milligrams are in 1 pound? - Yahoo Answers

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid...
1 pound = 453,592.37 milligrams.
============================================

Missouri Company Ordered To Stop Manufacturing and Selling Illegal Fireworks JANUARY 17, 2003

Release Number: 03-072

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is announcing today that Max 2000 Inc., of Stanton, Mo., and company officials Thomas and Mary Scaman, have agreed to stop manufacturing and selling an illegal agricultural firecracker that was widely available to consumers. Max 2000 made and sold over one million "Pest Control Report 2000" (PCR 2000) firecrackers that each contained nearly 1,000 milligrams of explosive powder, which is far in excess of the legal limit for consumer firecrackers. These firecrackers, if used by consumers, could cause serious injuries or death.

The company and individuals signed a consent decree of permanent injunction, which was approved and entered on the record by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

"In 2001, there were an estimated 9,500 visits to emergency rooms across the country because of injuries related to fireworks," said CPSC Chairman Hal Stratton.

"To help bring this statistic down, CPSC is going after companies that violate the law by selling professional or agricultural fireworks to consumers. Illegal firecrackers like the PCR 2000 can maim or kill and should not be purchased by consumers."

Around January 1998, Max 2000 began selling the Pest Control Report 2000 to fireworks wholesalers and retailers, as well as gun and ammunition dealers, who in turn sold them to consumers through catalogs, the Internet and fireworks stands. CPSC investigators found that the company did not comply with federal requirements that strictly limit the sale of firecrackers of this size to farmers, ranchers, or growers for the purpose of legitimate pest control.

The charges in the federal complaint against Max 2000 include the following illegal transactions:
400,000 PCR 2000 devices sold to All American Professional Fireworks, of Angola, Indiana;
10,000 PCR 2000s to Firequest Inc., of El Dorado, Ark.;
450,000 PCR 2000s to All Purpose Ammo LLC (also known as Planet Ammo), of Seneca, S.C.;
290,000 PCR 2000s to Self Defense Supply, of Richardson, Texas;
and 33,000 PCR 2000s to Astro Spectacular Inc., of Hooksett, N.H.

All American Professional Fireworks is owned by Kenneth Shearer who was found guilty by a jury on June 20, 2002, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, of violating federal explosives and transportation laws in connection with his sales of different professional fireworks to consumers.

CPSC worked closely and cooperatively with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in Missouri and the Department of Justice's Office of Consumer Litigation to investigate and take legal action against Max 2000.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical or mechanical hazard. CPSC's work to help ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and household chemicals -– contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 40 years.

Federal law bars any person from selling products subject to a publicly-announced voluntary recall by a manufacturer or a mandatory recall ordered by the Commission.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury go online to www.SaferProducts.gov or call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or teletypewriter at (301) 595-7054 for the hearing impaired.

Consumers can obtain news release and recall information at www.cpsc.gov, on Twitter @USCPSC or by subscribing to CPSC's free e-mail newsletters

http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/News...gal-Fireworks/

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Firecrackers EXPLODE.
(That's why they go BOOM.)
Things that explode are by definition EXPLOSIVES.
[They are also flammable.]
That's why you have to have a license to sell them.
That's why you can't store 49 pounds of them in an apartment building.
Why you can't send them thru the U.S. MAIL.

. . . "Pest Control Report 2000" (PCR 2000) firecrackers that each contained nearly 1,000 milligrams of explosive powder, which is far in excess of the legal limit for consumer firecrackers. These firecrackers, if used by consumers, could cause serious injuries or death...

@ http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/News...gal-Fireworks/
​
=========================
How many milligrams are in 1 pound? - Yahoo Answers

https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid...
1 pound = 453,592.37 milligrams.
============================================

Missouri Company Ordered To Stop Manufacturing and Selling Illegal Fireworks JANUARY 17, 2003

Release Number: 03-072

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is announcing today that Max 2000 Inc., of Stanton, Mo., and company officials Thomas and Mary Scaman, have agreed to stop manufacturing and selling an illegal agricultural firecracker that was widely available to consumers. Max 2000 made and sold over one million "Pest Control Report 2000" (PCR 2000) firecrackers that each contained nearly 1,000 milligrams of explosive powder, which is far in excess of the legal limit for consumer firecrackers. These firecrackers, if used by consumers, could cause serious injuries or death.

The company and individuals signed a consent decree of permanent injunction, which was approved and entered on the record by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri.

"In 2001, there were an estimated 9,500 visits to emergency rooms across the country because of injuries related to fireworks," said CPSC Chairman Hal Stratton.

"To help bring this statistic down, CPSC is going after companies that violate the law by selling professional or agricultural fireworks to consumers. Illegal firecrackers like the PCR 2000 can maim or kill and should not be purchased by consumers."

Around January 1998, Max 2000 began selling the Pest Control Report 2000 to fireworks wholesalers and retailers, as well as gun and ammunition dealers, who in turn sold them to consumers through catalogs, the Internet and fireworks stands. CPSC investigators found that the company did not comply with federal requirements that strictly limit the sale of firecrackers of this size to farmers, ranchers, or growers for the purpose of legitimate pest control.

The charges in the federal complaint against Max 2000 include the following illegal transactions:
400,000 PCR 2000 devices sold to All American Professional Fireworks, of Angola, Indiana;
10,000 PCR 2000s to Firequest Inc., of El Dorado, Ark.;
450,000 PCR 2000s to All Purpose Ammo LLC (also known as Planet Ammo), of Seneca, S.C.;
290,000 PCR 2000s to Self Defense Supply, of Richardson, Texas;
and 33,000 PCR 2000s to Astro Spectacular Inc., of Hooksett, N.H.

All American Professional Fireworks is owned by Kenneth Shearer who was found guilty by a jury on June 20, 2002, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Indiana, of violating federal explosives and transportation laws in connection with his sales of different professional fireworks to consumers.

CPSC worked closely and cooperatively with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms in Missouri and the Department of Justice's Office of Consumer Litigation to investigate and take legal action against Max 2000.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risks of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products under the agency’s jurisdiction. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC is committed to protecting consumers and families from products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical or mechanical hazard. CPSC's work to help ensure the safety of consumer products - such as toys, cribs, power tools, cigarette lighters and household chemicals -– contributed to a decline in the rate of deaths and injuries associated with consumer products over the past 40 years.

Federal law bars any person from selling products subject to a publicly-announced voluntary recall by a manufacturer or a mandatory recall ordered by the Commission.

To report a dangerous product or a product-related injury go online to www.SaferProducts.gov or call CPSC's Hotline at (800) 638-2772 or teletypewriter at (301) 595-7054 for the hearing impaired.

Consumers can obtain news release and recall information at www.cpsc.gov, on Twitter @USCPSC or by subscribing to CPSC's free e-mail newsletters

http://www.cpsc.gov/en/Newsroom/News...gal-Fireworks/

So they prosecuted Shearer and sentenced him to 6 years for selling 400,000 units. No one else was prosecuted besides Ver? Ver sold 14 and got 10 months and 3 years supervised probation.

1000 milligrams of powder is 1/5 of a teaspoon in each device. And sure fireworks are dangerous, but there's no indication or evidence that these were or that they harmed anyone. I accept that it was an illegal activity, because Ver needed a license and shouldn't use the mail to distribute them. But lots of families and kids have more flash powder in their house during fireworks holidays than what he had and they store them in their homes.

So again, I don't see anything here either with his pest control device or with his decision to renounce US citizenship over his prosecution and income taxes that justify USCIS not giving him a visa to make his speech at the Bitcoin Convention. It's a discriminatory treatment, far worse folks are allowed in any time they want for any reason they claim. He paid for his "crime", and he's free to leave our country and establish citizenship elsewhere if he wishes. And as a citizen of that nation, he has every right to expect to be treated the same as any citizen from that nation would be treated.

Ver renounced his U.S. Citizenship so he wouldn't have to pay his taxes so I really don't care what they do to him.

Ver is an ex-con who admitted violating several laws, when he pled guilty, so I really really don't care what they do to him.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Ver renounced his U.S. Citizenship so he wouldn't have to pay his taxes so I really don't care what they do to him.

Ver is an ex-con who admitted violating several laws, when he pled guilty, so I really really don't care what they do to him.

While on the other hand, I have no problem with people who choose to renounce their US citizenship over income taxes, it's their freedom to rebel against such a toll on liberty. Our country was founded over a tax rebellion. And, I believe that when you have committed a crime and paid your price for it, that is the end of your punishment by government.

Ver is for Open Borders.


Roger Ver pictured in his 'borders are imaginary lines' t-shirt.