The towering 38-year-old native of Arkansas is one of at least 250 people who've accepted Puerto Rico's invitation to well-heeled U.S. citizens to move to the island and enjoy life without taxes on capital gains, an enticing offer for those whose income is derived from investments.
Eiler lives in a gated community on Puerto Rico's southeastern shore, making a commute of less than 5 minutes from house to office across manicured greens, with an expansive ocean view.
"Driving to work in your flip-flops and golf cart is not bad," he says with a quick laugh.
This semi-autonomous U.S. territory sets its own tax policy, and its residents pay no federal tax on income derived locally. Mired in a recession for almost a decade and with an unemployment rate stuck above 13 percent, more than double the U.S. rate overall, it decided in 2012 to try to lure wealthy investors who would be likely to buy expensive real estate, establish businesses and create jobs.
Act 22, the legislation that set up the program, exempts people from taxes on any capital gains accrued after they move and it provides an exemption from local taxes on dividends and interests if they take up permanent residence, among other conditions. A government brochure sums it up as "Sun, Sand and Zero Taxes."
"Frankly, for Americans, it's sort of an unprecedented thing," said Alex Daley, a technology investment strategist who moved from Vermont with his wife in December 2013.
Daley said he felt the U.S. mainland had become a more hostile tax environment under President Barack Obama. "They try to hold the people with the most mobility and the most wealth captive," Daley said of the U.S. government. "People are getting angry about that."
The law is sparking some controversy in Puerto Rico, however, particularly among economically beleaguered middle-class workers who pay island taxes on non-investment income. Others say the strategy helps erode the U.S. federal government's tax base by diverting revenue from the mainland.
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