Pandora Papers : Revelatations.

Not everyone. I'm sure that even in the U.S there are people like me who believe that us wealthier folk should pay their way.
My view is that my country provided a safe, healthy, war free environment with a good infrastructure to grow my business. In return I agreed that if I got wealthy I would pay more tax.
There was no subterfuge, I knew the deal when I set my business up.

 

We could simplify our tax code and make everyone pay. But we don't.

 

That is true. Half the population pays no income tax. The tax code isn't about government revenue so much as it is a projection of special interests.

 

I would say that either you are unable to avoid taxes or you are in a very small minority. I pay them only because of the trouble not paying them would bring on me. I hate giving my money to a corrupt and incompetent government that wastes the majority of it. My business is not set up to support the re-election of politicians.

 

In theory, in reality people who steal documents are more comfortable emailing them to a journalist than they are walking into their local FBI office and saying, "You are never gonna believe what I just stole....". Anyway, my problem with these type stories is that so far it does not appear to anything illegal going on. It is just another shame the rich people article. Wall Street does the same stuff in broad daylight by offshoring their intellectual property rights and then the profits they get from them. If you really want to soak the wealthy, that is where real money is.

 

On the one hand, government is too incompetent and bloated to effectively run something like healthcare. On the other, they are supposed to be better at investigating than the thousands of people who have dedicated their lives to the practice.

 

The vast majority of those who pay no income tax are lower income people. They pay sales taxes.The people who anger me are the rich people like Trump who somehow manage to pay little or nothing.

 

A flat tax would not raise taxes on the poor, because it would eliminate all the deductions used by the wealthy so they won't pay taxes. I have someone in my family who has a house in the most expensive area in the country, a summer home in the most expensive beach area in the country, three children in top private schools and paid no taxes and it was all legal.

So if someone buys a Rolls Royce and has to pay 50% of it in taxes and someone buys a cheap car and pays 5%, why are you saying it's unfair to the poor?

I find your arrogance appalling. You think so lowly of people that you're telling them that something that will benefit them will harm them, and something that will harm them will benefit them. Are you a politician?

 

How do you figure that eliminating deductions used by the wealthy would equate to taxes not being raised on the poor? These would be very different provisions in any tax code. Are you talking about a flat tax with a 0% rate below a certain income threshold?

 

Allow me to piss you off even further ..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_Street_Corporation

2 other banks have the same amount .. Melon and Morgan - for some 9 Trillion invested - near 120 Trillion under "custody and Admin"

To try and contextualize how much money this is -- World wealth is estimated 400-600 Trillion.

So in 3 banks - we have some 25% of the entire wealth of the world -- owned by a relatively few families..

So when you hear about Gates - Bezos -- "Richest men in the world" once you hit 100 Billion .. think again.. There are families who have Trillions.

Another interesting measure is to look at the "So called" largest Hedge fund - Bridgewater -- having 150 Billion under management - compare to the 9 Trillion under management at State Street and friends.

 

A flat tax on incomes would be the same for everyone - except maybe for the very poor. Let's say it's 5%. Someone making 50 thousand would pay 2 1/2 thousand, while someone making 100 thousand would pay 5 thousand. A person with an income of 1 million would pay 50 thousand, and someone with an income of 2 million would pay 100 thousand. All the deductions used mostly by the wealthy would be eliminated.

If this was combined with an escalating sales tax according to the price of the item, it would be a lot more fair because no one is being forced to buy that item and pay that high tax. In other words if someone wants to buy a luxury car that costs 200 thousand, they would just have to cough up an extra 50 to 100 thousand more for taxes.

I think the problem with the sales tax, is that it might hinder sales - but will it? Of course food and other necessities would not be taxed.

 

I'm wondering how poor people who pay nothing now would not have their taxes raised under a flat tax system, which obviously would mean they would pay something rather than nothing.

Sales tax and value added tax are good options for raising extra funding, sure, but it would also have more of an impact on the poor than on the wealthy since the poor can hardly afford higher prices on anything, while the wealth would hardly be fussed by $1,000 vs $1,200, let's say, on some expensive item. Also, putting such a tax on luxury items would make them that much harder for someone who isn't very wealthy to afford, especially if you're talking about $250,000 to $300,000 instead of $200,000 just because of taxes.

I think a progressive tax scheme, but with those loopholes reduced or eliminated and maybe some lower rates to make up for that would be good. Flat tax, maybe if incomes below a certain threshold are exempted or if there are other mitigations in place, such as child tax credits.

 

Trump had no personal income while president. He donated his salary to charity and he removed himself from management (and income) from his company. Doesn't get any cleaner than that. I accept your description of being a democrat. You put picking winners and losers over equality. Government doing that has created the monstrosity we see in Washington today.

 

Trump didn't set up the system, it was set up years ago through lobbyists. He just did his homework, and knows how to work something that was put in by others.

As a politician though, I'd much rather have someone in office that is wealthy and has nothing to gain from it, rather than someone who is using the office to gain wealth.

 

As far as I'm concerned my tax goes to pay for health care, education, infrastructure, benefits for the unlucky, care for the elderly etc etc. Very little of it is used to get government re-elected.
And yes I could avoid taxes, my accountants repeatedly let me know how

 

Glad you have a government that meets your approval. I wish I did.

 

We don't sell enough Rolls Royce's for that to work. Indeed much of the issue with the wealth gap is how much wealth is static, tied up in parcels of pretty land and coast line earning nothing and paying no tax.

 

Its not whether its a government I support that's in power. All governments supply the things I listed even yours. They pay for them through taxes, the lower the tax the more likely they are provided by corrupt organisations that ultimately cost you more than they should.

 

I couldn't disagree more.

 

What's to disagree with? Where do you think your roads etc come from.

 

I'm not going there. Roads aren't the issue. Local government isn't the issue. The issue is corruption, incompetence and a willingness on the part of federal government to destroy the American way of life in order to buy votes. I lose sleep over it at night. We are undergoing a marxist revolution in this country. So far it is a quiet revolution but it is disastrous.

 

Pandora Papers illuminate the lives of billionaires: Buying influence, avoiding taxes and owning yachts

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...Q.qHCOQLA0Oxq7ZZk9ygiz8Cqvrsy1xwN7JDER7CKVe_0


Avoiding taxes to that extent does seem unseemly and selfish. Taxes go towards social programs that help others have a reasonable life They go to help the economy in the country where one lies in. In a way taxes are like paying rent for living in a nation. ( metaphorically speaking) And just because it is "legal", does not mean it is right.

 

I agree with this. 5%, with no possible loopholes, containing all forms of income, corporate or otherwise.

 

Its tempting to dismiss your views as a bit crazy, America is so far from Marxism.
But no. You really believe you are losing your America, so I accept that.
What is the biggest thing you feel you have lost? The frontiersman feel? What?

 

Where does that fear come from?? Who or what group is promoting??

and does Social media reinforce it???