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California To Hit Startup Founders with Big Retroactive Tax Bills

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Re: California To Hit Startup Founders with Big Retroactive Tax Bills

#181

Post by kjackson2012 »

run4yourlives wrote: post #88
kjackson2012 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't know much about Vancouver if you think this is a realistic possibility. Vancouver, BC has barely any tech industry (a few software companies like Business Objects, and EA Sports are up there, but nothing meaningful), and the taxes are high. British Columbia has one of the highest tax rate in Canada. One of my Canadian friends told me that the 50% marginal tax rate started around $65k, although I haven't dou…

I live in Vancouver. Have you ever actually lived in Canada? >Vancouver, BC has barely any tech industry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Vancouver Let's just ignore the fact that MS has a development centre in Vancouver, specifically because its easier to hire game developers here. Halo is being written here. > British Columbia has one of the highest tax rate in Canada. You may want to tell that to BC: http:/…

My friend worked for EA Sports, so I trusted the information he provided, but I guess he was wrong. The marginal tax rates are 43% at 135k.

Yes, Vancouver has some tech companies, but I wouldn't call it anything like a tech hub like Ottawa or Toronto. Also, UBC and SFU do not have a strong tech program. I'm sure it's average compared to most cities, but you won't find the same amounts of tech people in Vancouver like you will in Seattle or Silicon Valley. In fact, I'd bet that most above average developers in Vancouver would move to a more tech-oriented city.

He also mentioned that the cost of housing in Vancouver is twice the amount of Seattle. Not sure how accurate that is either.

Re: California To Hit Startup Founders with Big Retroactive Tax Bills

#182

Post by matwood »

jibjaba wrote: post #61

To me this is a symptom of the twisted politics around taxation in the US. You have one very powerful group that is continually fighting to lower or eliminate taxes and another somewhat less powerful group that wants to bring in enough tax money to fund government services. One side cuts taxes or refuses to raise them and the other side finds new things to tax or other taxes to raise. Normally such a tug of war is no…

So the side you disagree with has no use for logic? There is definitely some 'starve the beast' mentality going on, and IMHO it's needed. Government spending is out of control, and taxes overall are too low. The problem is that both sides need to give in a lot if things are ever to be fixed. Neither will admit to any problem and just point fingers at the other.

Re: California To Hit Startup Founders with Big Retroactive Tax Bills

#184

Post by saryant »

natrius wrote: post #166
techsupporter wrote: post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hopefully you aren't fond of electricity[0], water[1], schools[2], or roads[3]. 0 - http://www.ercot.com/news/press_releases/show/26375 1 - http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/DM_south.htm 2 - http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-budgets-call-for-cu... 3 - http://www.statesman.com/news/news/state-regional-govt-polit... (Texas is my home state. I left, though I keep close ties to it through family and frequent visits.)

Electricity is being worked on, as that press release indicates. On the hottest day or two of the year, the power might go out for a little bit. It's not a big deal. Water is going to be the biggest issue this legislative session. California has similar water problems. Schools... are complicated. That one might not get fixed, but performance is better correlated with household income than education spending. Roads ar…

I did half of your roundtrip. Grew up in the Bay Area, moved to Texas. Swore I'd end up moving back but seven years later I have absolutely no intention of doing so.

Re: California To Hit Startup Founders with Big Retroactive Tax Bills

#185

Post by koenigdavidmj »

w1ntermute wrote: post #145
flagnog wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and you can't legally buy a Big Gulp. Seriously, and city/county/state govt that would do that, you can't trust them with your livelihood.

Under Bloomberg, NYC has turned from a police state into a full-fledged nanny state.

Unless you have certain melanin levels, in which case it is still a police state too.

Re: California To Hit Startup Founders with Big Retroactive Tax Bills

#186

Post by rosser »

w1ntermute wrote: post #167
rosser wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

postage-stamp-sized European countries like Sweden At 174K mi^2, Sweden is larger than California's 164K mi^2.

You're being intentionally obtuse. As is immediately apparent if you look at a population density map of Sweden[0], the vast majority of the population is concentrated in the southern part of the country. 0: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Swedishpo...

If you meant population, you should have said population. The phrase "postage-stamp-sized European countries" is pretty broadly understood and used to mean things like Andorra, Lichtenstein, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, &c.

By no stretch of the imagination is interpreting a widely-used phrase as it's widely used "being intentionally obtuse."

Re: California To Hit Startup Founders with Big Retroactive Tax Bills

#187

Post by rgbrenner »

mindcrime wrote: post #141
thebooktocome wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A lack of institutionalized corruption and organized crime?

The USA has plenty of institutionalized corruption (see: Washington D.C.) and organized crime too, so how much worse can Mexico be?

"so how much worse can Mexico be?"

That's sarcasm right?

Mexico: 3rd highest number of murders in the world (only India and Brazil are worse). Nearly 5x the murder rate in the US - nearly 2x the total number of murders.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_intentiona...

Re: California To Hit Startup Founders with Big Retroactive Tax Bills

#188

Post by [deleted] »

lisper wrote: post #66
basseq wrote: post #34

I did a quick google and found a discussion of retroactive tax laws (applying to gift taxes in 2010): http://www.assetprotectionsociety.org/the-likelihood-and-enf... Potential arguments include due process, "wholly new tax", lack of notice, ex post facto (with the same caveat as mentioned here about applicability only to criminal cases), and the fifth amendment taking clause. Conclusion: it's hard to fight.

> applicability only to criminal cases Where do you get that? The Constitution says simply: "No Bill of Attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed." Period, end of story. Just because someone on the Internet says this applies only to criminal law doesn't make it so.

[deleted]

Re: California To Hit Startup Founders with Big Retroactive Tax Bills

#189

Post by BetterLateThan »

run4yourlives wrote: post #88
kjackson2012 wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You don't know much about Vancouver if you think this is a realistic possibility. Vancouver, BC has barely any tech industry (a few software companies like Business Objects, and EA Sports are up there, but nothing meaningful), and the taxes are high. British Columbia has one of the highest tax rate in Canada. One of my Canadian friends told me that the 50% marginal tax rate started around $65k, although I haven't dou…

I live in Vancouver. Have you ever actually lived in Canada? >Vancouver, BC has barely any tech industry http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Vancouver Let's just ignore the fact that MS has a development centre in Vancouver, specifically because its easier to hire game developers here. Halo is being written here. > British Columbia has one of the highest tax rate in Canada. You may want to tell that to BC: http:/…

> Let's just ignore the fact that MS has a development centre in Vancouver

Wow, MS centre! It will save us all. And they don't have MS centers anywhere else, right? Vancouver here.

* All of Canada has as many my profile job openings as Seattle.

* Salaries are lower here than there.

* Taxes are higher here than there.

* Prices are higher here than there.

* Selection of everything is miserable here.

* It's impossible to have a career if you can't talk hockey for 2 hours. Nobody gives a f$%k about your abilities - you must be "one of us".

> How's your health care?

Pathetic, thank you. I just waited 4 months for an ultrasound. They said everything was OK - but why then would I have insisted on it in the first place?

> BC starts to become very, very attractive

Do you have a house for sale? Because it sure sounds like it. BC does not start to become very, very attractive to anyone ambitious and able - and these guys will go to US for the same reason that all ambitious and able Canadians move to US.

There are M.D. taxi drivers and Ph.D. WalMart cashiers here - because their names are Davinder and Reza rather than Sean and Tim.

No doubt, BC is a great place for natural resources barons, drug traffickers, porn and gambling shops, and bribe-happy Party officials from China. It's extremely neophobic, hypocritical and hostile to changes.

YMMV

Re: California To Hit Startup Founders with Big Retroactive Tax Bills

#190

Post by sp332 »

pc86 wrote: post #148
rkowalick wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the exact same argument the supporters of Ohio Senate Bill 5[1] used. One reason people in the public sector are willing to be paid less than their private counterparts is because their benefit plans are genuinely better. Saying they should eliminate one of the better benefits public sector employees get is stupid. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_Senate_Bill_5_Voter_Refere...

First of all, I don't know about you, but I don't come to HN and try to have a somewhat intelligent conversation just to be called stupid for expressing an opinion. Secondly and to your point, I am only speaking of defined-benefit "If you work here for x years you get y% of your salary." This is to say nothing of the health care (which is generally better than the private sector), the hours (which if you don't work f…

"Perhaps defined-benefit retirement plans should not be in the public sector" - that's not an opinion, that's an idea. Not a good idea, either.
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