The two Democrats, who represent New York and Pennsylvania, respectively, took Saverin to task for "tax dodging." The Senators, who spoke Thursday morning in Washington, D.C., also unveiled a plan called the "Ex-Patriot" Act ("Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy") that would bar other similar expats from returning to the U.S. if they gave up their citizenship for tax purposes.
Saverin, who was born in Brazil, filed to give up his U.S. citizenship in January 2011 to become a citizen of Singapore. The news surfaced in late April, however, when the federal government made it public in a routine filing. Saverin, who co-founded Facebook but was later estranged from the company, received a settlement that will likely put his wealth in the $3 billion range when Facebook goes public on Friday.
Though Schumer and Casey charge that Saverin will "duck up to $67 million in taxes" since Singapore has no capital gains tax, Saverin told The New York Times that his decision wasn't driven by economics.
“This had nothing to do with taxes,” he said. “I was born in Brazil, I was an American citizen for about 10 years. I thought of myself as a global citizen.”