Kenneth B. Dart, a billionaire who renounced his American citizenship and moved to the tiny Central American nation of Belize, avoiding millions of dollars in taxes, apparently has visions of returning home.
Dart, president of Dart Container Corp., a foam cup manufacturer based in Mason, Mich., with 13 plants throughout the United States, wants to return to the same wealthy, palm-tree neighborhood of Sarasota, Fla., that he left two years ago, but as a consul for his adopted country.Earlier this year, U.S. officials say, the Belize government petitioned the State Department to open a consulate in Sarasota, where Dart's wife, children and other relatives still live. But the officials say the entreaty was never seriously considered, and Dart has declined to discuss the issue.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, say Dart had approached Belizean officials and had offered to pay for a consulate in Florida, a United Nations office in New York and a domestic program in Belize.
As a noncitizen of the United States, Dart does not have to pay capital gains and estate taxes because of a loophole in the tax law, but he cannot stay in the United States for more than 120 days a year. As a foreign diplomat residing in the United States, he would be under no such restrictions.
Dart's lawyer, Jim Lammers, declined to discuss the matter. And a spokeswoman at the Belize embassy in Washington said Monday, "No one will be commenting on that."
Fewer than 1,000 Americans a year give up their citizenship, most for reasons that have nothing to do with taxes. But a dozen or more of those who leave are multimillionaires.