A Russian expat, Katie Ananina, founded Plan B Passport to help people take a tropical escape from capital gains taxes on their bitcoin earnings. The client can choose to obtain a second passport in one of seven countries.
According to a recent report by CNBC, the company brokers a few hundred passports each year for clients that are primarily from western countries. The company founder, Katie Ananina, puts the idea behind Plan B Passport Succinctly. As an investor, “I was smart enough to figure out that $200 in bitcoin will be worth $100,000 at some point. I don’t think the government should have 40% of that.”
Ananina moved to the States in 2016. She saw Russian currency drop 50% while bitcoin was on the rise during the two months living in Spain. She knew that she had to get into a crypto world.
“My macroeconomics professor wasn’t able to explain that to me. There was no chance I could run my equations and figure out what happened there,” Katie Ananina said. “I realized I wasn’t happy with how money works.”
How Plan B Passport Works
Plan B Passport helps hundreds of people from countries like the U.S, the U.K, Australia and Canada. Clients can get a passport for Saint Kitts and Nevis, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Vanuatu, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and Portugal. Plan B works in collaboration with the governments of each country offering citizenship or residency by utilising investment programs.
“It’s an attractive way to draw foreign investment and especially prominent in countries with few natural resources,” said Ernest Marais, an attorney with international tax law firm Andersen. “In Saint Lucia you can obtain citizenship by an investment of between $100k(donation), $250k (Government bonds) or $300k (real estate).”
Ananina says the average check for her customers ranges from $130,000 to $180,000.
“It’s basically a donation into the sustainable growth fund of the country,” she said. “So, clients make a $100,000 or $150,000 donation, plus some due diligence fees, government fees, and then $20,000 for my legal fees.”
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Families opt for Saint Kitts, while Saint Lucia is the most popular program for Single applicants. Both are the cheaper destinations and have decently quick application turnaround time.
Ananina says because of the capital gain tax on crypto gains, many of her American clients are planning to renounce their U.S. citizenship.
