Business Owners
According to tradingeconomics.com, Singapore's corporate tax rate in 2014 stood at 17% while US corporate tax rate stood high at 40%.
Investors
Singapore do not have capital gains tax as compared to US. Fool.com states that for short term capital gains, taxes can go up to 39.6% while long term capital gains tax range between 15-20%. High-income tax payers in US, whose income ranges more than $200,000 or $250,000 joint filers, get an extra 3.8% on capital gains tax, which made selling or buying even more costly.
Dow Jones Industrial Average (Yahoo Finance)
Straits Times Index (Bloomberg)
Conclusion
It makes more sense to be a Singapore citizen to be an investor as no capital gains tax is being charged for buying or selling of stocks. Foreign investors are also not liable for capital gains tax in Singapore. Furthermore, the US stock markets are constantly on the upward trend with no sign of correction while the Straits Times Index suffered periodic correction.
High net worth individuals in US might not like that tax system in the country and could avoid high taxes in US by becoming a Singapore citizen as they need to pay more taxes as a owner of a business and also an investor there.
I predict a correction in US stock markets as a result of higher interest rates and higher tax rates. The funds from selling could be diverted to Asia as stock markets here remain low, namely the STI in Singapore and also the rest of Asia (Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, South Korea)
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