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https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/131/General-Explanati...
The proposal under discussion is under the header "INTRODUCE COMPREHENSIVE FINANCIAL ACCOUNT REPORTING TO IMPROVE TAX COMPLIANCE", page 94 of 114 in the PDF, labelled page 88 in the source document
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A few big fish is nothing compared to a net of every small fish independent contractor, small business and dude with a side gig who doesn't report that income. The cynical take is that it's not about the money, it's about having the power of arbitrary enforcement coupled with the longstanding ability to freeze accounts and seize assets in response to tax evasion. Imagine if the feds has an "off switch" for most small…
Yes, but is it more effective to catch and eat a 10lb trout, of which there are plenty and they're easy to identify using established laws and technologies (tip: they hang around Jackson Hole), or try to dip net and fillet 300 creek chubs scattered all over the place? You are right in that it isn't only about the money. It has to be the surveillance aspect with the revenue generation as an added bonus. If something l…
Unless that big 10 Lb. trout has a whole team of high priced smart lawyers, many of who used to work for the IRS. Small fish don't have the money for lawyers and so cave in and pay up - - - easy money for the Gov't.
Oh, and by the way, the $600 bank item was first proposed by none other than Joe Biden, the same guy whose only real legislation he sponsored in the US Senate was his 1994 crime bill to increase sentences for drug crimes and resulted in a disproportionate number of poor blacks being incarcerated for decades. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/us/joe-biden-crime-laws.h...
Funny where their priorities lie.
We would (almost) all of us be better off if we had a financial transaction tax, and the IRS focused on THAT.
How would the tax be enforced on cash, or is the elimination of paper money a second-order effect?
[1]:https://bfsi.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/policy/digita...
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, but is it more effective to catch and eat a 10lb trout, of which there are plenty and they're easy to identify using established laws and technologies (tip: they hang around Jackson Hole), or try to dip net and fillet 300 creek chubs scattered all over the place? You are right in that it isn't only about the money. It has to be the surveillance aspect with the revenue generation as an added bonus. If something l…
The IRS has had its ability to go after big fish gutted. They simply don't have the resources to properly audit and prosecute a billionaire. But Joe the Electrician who does most of his work under the table? That's easy, so that's where they focus.
Biden Tax Plan Leans on Banks to Help Find Unreported Income https://www.wsj.com/articles/biden-tax-plan-leans-on-banks-t...
>The proposal would require banks to report annual account inflows and outflows to the Internal Revenue Service. The requirement would also extend to peer-to-peer payment services such as Venmo but wouldn’t require individuals and businesses to report any additional information to the government, according to people familiar with the plan. Financial institutions already must report interest, dividend and investment income, and the IRS can get bank information during audits.
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Unlikely. Most American small businesses and individuals can't set up offshore structures willy nilly (it's too expensive and complex), and FACTA makes it a lot harder for them to even if they want to. Lots of financial institutions hate working with Americans and will avoid it if possible in some places because of FACTA. Keeping money offshore doesn't make sense for the little guy. You're required to report it with…
There are companies in Russia that specialize in providing shell companies to businesses. You can get a "reused" local company, an unique one, a company represented by a real person (no idea if that person is literally a fall guy, or just a legal fiction), probably off-shores too. Sounds like this might become a great startup idea in the US too ;)
While that's not to say that aged shells, nominee directors, etc. don't serve a purpose for certain people in certain situations, a lot of this stuff is just designed to enrich the service providers through fees and provides very little meaningful value in terms of privacy and protection.
A lot of Russians use offshore structures to protect their assets from the state. Also, Russia has a territorial tax system under which nonresidents are taxed only on their Russian-source income. Many wealthy Russians live overseas, so if you make your money abroad and live abroad, there's nothing inherently illegal about keeping your money abroad if you're a Russian.
Basically, the reasons a Russian would go offshore are a bit different from the reasons an average American would.
Finally, in cases where a Russian was offshore for shady business, you should recognize that the long arm of the Russian authorities isn't that long. The US, on the other hand, can functionally knee-cap financial institutions anywhere in the world for refusing to do what it wants.
As evidence of this, consider that even Chinese banks will comply with US sanctions if they feel there's a risk to their US dollar operations:
https://www.bloombergquint.com/global-economics/chinese-bank...