Trump’s ‘Gold Card’ Would Offer Tax Benefit Unavailable to Americans

resident Donald Trump‘s proposed Gold Card visa for the rich could offer a tax incentive that other immigration pathways currently don’t, experts say.

The $5 million “Green Card plus,” as Trump and his Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick touted in the Oval Office last week, would allow holders to avoid paying U.S. tax on their overseas income—an option not currently open to citizens or immigrants in the country.

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The president’s announcement was the first legal immigration policy announcement of his second term in the White House. It is solely aimed at the world’s wealthiest businesspeople. Some experts have been skeptical about how popular the Gold Card could be among investors if they don’t see their $5 million fee ever again.

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Trump said at the White House last Tuesday that those who participated in the Gold Card program would “be paying a lot of taxes” and employing a lot of people, while also stating that “they won’t have to pay any tax on income outside of the United States.”

With so few details on the program currently, experts are cautious about this being an official policy if the Gold Card is implemented.

Rahul Soni, a partner at immigration services provider Fragomen, told Newsweek that to create the Gold Card with this tax loophole, something will need to be changed within the immigration system itself to create “a differentiating factor” between this visa and other Green Card options.

“Currently, all legal permanent residents (and U.S. citizens) are subject to the same U.S. tax implications for international income and assets,” Soni said.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) lists only a few exemptions for paying taxes on foreign income, including U.S. citizens who have lived in a foreign country for an uninterrupted period and immigrants from countries that have an agreement with the U.S.

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