Known for its white-sand beaches and killer rums, Puerto Rico hopes to stake a new claim: tax haven for the wealthy.
Since the beginning of the year, the island has gone on a campaign to promote tax incentives that took effect last year, marketing its beautiful beaches, private schools and bargain costs in an effort to lure well-heeled hedge fund managers and business executives to its shores.
So far, Puerto Rico's pitch has attracted a handful of under-the-radar millionaires. Several American executives of mostly smaller financial firms say they have already relocated to the island, and Puerto Rican officials say another 40 persons, mostly from the United States, have applied.
Millionaires are nice, but Puerto Rican officials hope to reel in billionaires like John A Paulson, the hedge fund manager who Bloomberg News reported earlier this month was weighing a move.
The attention prompted an unusual statement from Paulson, which declared that he was not relocating. (Still, Paulson, a 57-year-old New Yorker, had briefly considered a move, say two people with knowledge of his plans.)
If not Paulson, government officials and real estate brokers in Puerto Rico hope to sell other wealthy mainland Americans on what they hope will become the next Singapore or Ireland as a favoured low-tax destination. Puerto Rico is closer and, compared with Ireland, decidedly warmer. And unlike in Switzerland or other havens, in Puerto Rico, Americans do not give up their citizenship.
© 2013 The New York Times News Service
Since the beginning of the year, the island has gone on a campaign to promote tax incentives that took effect last year, marketing its beautiful beaches, private schools and bargain costs in an effort to lure well-heeled hedge fund managers and business executives to its shores.
So far, Puerto Rico's pitch has attracted a handful of under-the-radar millionaires. Several American executives of mostly smaller financial firms say they have already relocated to the island, and Puerto Rican officials say another 40 persons, mostly from the United States, have applied.
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The tax savings could add up to "at least in the six figures" each year, said Barry Breeman, an American who said he was moving to Puerto Rico with his wife. Breeman is the co-founder of the New York-based Caribbean Property Group, a real estate investment firm that has substantial holdings on the island.
Millionaires are nice, but Puerto Rican officials hope to reel in billionaires like John A Paulson, the hedge fund manager who Bloomberg News reported earlier this month was weighing a move.
The attention prompted an unusual statement from Paulson, which declared that he was not relocating. (Still, Paulson, a 57-year-old New Yorker, had briefly considered a move, say two people with knowledge of his plans.)
If not Paulson, government officials and real estate brokers in Puerto Rico hope to sell other wealthy mainland Americans on what they hope will become the next Singapore or Ireland as a favoured low-tax destination. Puerto Rico is closer and, compared with Ireland, decidedly warmer. And unlike in Switzerland or other havens, in Puerto Rico, Americans do not give up their citizenship.
© 2013 The New York Times News Service