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Uber used 50 Dutch shell companies to dodge taxes on $6B in revenue

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Re: Uber used 50 Dutch shell companies to dodge taxes on $6B in revenue

#101

If IP and shell companies infuriate you. I invite you to investigate why all billionaires have foundations or its cousin structures and "give" their wealth to it... Clue: tax and inheritance (tax) avoidance. Bill, Buffett, etc. are hypocrites. But it is not new, even in the Bible they spoke about it (Matthew 6:2): "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues…

Anyone with any money should setup a trust. Especially if they want to marry. Done right it’s an amazing way to protect your wealth. Better protection than a prenup can provide.

[deleted]

Re: Uber used 50 Dutch shell companies to dodge taxes on $6B in revenue

#102
post #99

If IP and shell companies infuriate you. I invite you to investigate why all billionaires have foundations or its cousin structures and "give" their wealth to it... Clue: tax and inheritance (tax) avoidance. Bill, Buffett, etc. are hypocrites. But it is not new, even in the Bible they spoke about it (Matthew 6:2): "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues…

Can someone create a Dutch-shell-companies-as-as-service (DSCaaS), generate and submit all legal documents automatically, and help normal citizens dodge the same amount of taxes?

I was actually offered this as a service by a company doing formations in the Seychelles (they were spamming people) - quite literally had a spammer tell me "no, don't buy my product, it isn't worth it"

They basically said the cost of company formation (doesn't really matter where, but anywhere that matters, like Panama or Seychelles or BVI or Macau or etc), mail handling monthly payments, virtual office payments, legal and accountant time, etc exceeds more than 99% of peoples' actual tax payment. That includes people making 500k. And that there is virtually no point in doing so. Doubly more if you are US based due to reporting requirements and massive additional costs for that.

IANAL, but based on what I've been told you are not able to easily do this if you are employed by a normal company - it requires that you hold a company in the first place to have intellectual property, branding to be able to licence cross-shell [easiest compared to trying to shuffle physical items of value around], etc, and that the company gets the payment, so people making 500k FAANG salaries are out as they are FTE employed.

And that your cost of finding the 'correct' accountant that has experience in this will far exceed your previous accountant cost.

Re: Uber used 50 Dutch shell companies to dodge taxes on $6B in revenue

#103
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good luck exfiltrating it back to your bank account.

If the money is in your company then it's in one of your accounts somewhere.

What are you going to tell the IRS when they ask you about the offshore wire transfers coming in? It's a "consulting fee"? You're going to be paying taxes on that at your marginal rate.

Re: Uber used 50 Dutch shell companies to dodge taxes on $6B in revenue

#104
post #99

If IP and shell companies infuriate you. I invite you to investigate why all billionaires have foundations or its cousin structures and "give" their wealth to it... Clue: tax and inheritance (tax) avoidance. Bill, Buffett, etc. are hypocrites. But it is not new, even in the Bible they spoke about it (Matthew 6:2): "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues…

Can someone create a Dutch-shell-companies-as-as-service (DSCaaS), generate and submit all legal documents automatically, and help normal citizens dodge the same amount of taxes?

I suspect there's a large fixed cost to arrange this so it doesn't make sense for most people. Though maybe there's way to make it cheaper!

Also with inheritance tax in the US, your estate isn't taxed unless it's worth more than $11.18 million [0]. So doesn't matter for most people. It's estimated only %0.2 of estates pay the tax.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estate_tax_in_the_United_State...

Re: Uber used 50 Dutch shell companies to dodge taxes on $6B in revenue

#105

If IP and shell companies infuriate you. I invite you to investigate why all billionaires have foundations or its cousin structures and "give" their wealth to it... Clue: tax and inheritance (tax) avoidance. Bill, Buffett, etc. are hypocrites. But it is not new, even in the Bible they spoke about it (Matthew 6:2): "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues…

How would someone at that level of wealth give in a more empathetic way? What should Bill and Buffett be doing instead?

Buffett always complains that he did not pay enough tax. He could simply wire 50% of his fortune to the IRS. His secretary had no choice. (End of sarcasm)

They should donate to a foundation. They should not have link with it (direct or indirect). Their family (direct or indirect) should not have link with it (direct or indirect).

The problem with these structures is that they allow someone to control and directly benefit from assets without fiscally owning them. Usually these foundations have complex structures and use generous fiscal code of some countries.

For many, the main goal is to lower the fiscal pressure during transmission to the children.

Re: Uber used 50 Dutch shell companies to dodge taxes on $6B in revenue

#106

If IP and shell companies infuriate you. I invite you to investigate why all billionaires have foundations or its cousin structures and "give" their wealth to it... Clue: tax and inheritance (tax) avoidance. Bill, Buffett, etc. are hypocrites. But it is not new, even in the Bible they spoke about it (Matthew 6:2): "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues…

Yes and no, in the case of charities, our tax system encourages this behavior intentionally. Obviously there are those who take advantage more than others, but often you would find that it's not easy to do so without actually breaking the law.

Re: Uber used 50 Dutch shell companies to dodge taxes on $6B in revenue

#107

If IP and shell companies infuriate you. I invite you to investigate why all billionaires have foundations or its cousin structures and "give" their wealth to it... Clue: tax and inheritance (tax) avoidance. Bill, Buffett, etc. are hypocrites. But it is not new, even in the Bible they spoke about it (Matthew 6:2): "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues…

Your point is valid without the need to reference fiction.

Please don't pollute HN with this rhetoric.

Re: Uber used 50 Dutch shell companies to dodge taxes on $6B in revenue

#108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would someone at that level of wealth give in a more empathetic way? What should Bill and Buffett be doing instead?

Buffett always complains that he did not pay enough tax. He could simply wire 50% of his fortune to the IRS. His secretary had no choice. (End of sarcasm) They should donate to a foundation. They should not have link with it (direct or indirect ). Their family (direct or indirect) should not have link with it (direct or indirect ). The problem with these structures is that they allow someone to control and directly b…

millions of Americans struggle with basic expenses. Such expenses are recurring. even if he gave half, it would not last long enough to fix those problems.

Re: Uber used 50 Dutch shell companies to dodge taxes on $6B in revenue

#109

Congress is corrupt (via lobbyists). Congress would make this illegal if congress men/women didn't sell out American Citizens. 88% of the cost of the US Fed gov is paid for by taxes by workers (income taxes). Less than 12% comes from all corp/business taxes combined with capital gains (taxing the rich 1%). Business shifting tax burden to workers is a massive scale problem. $3.5 Trillion = US Tax Revenues (2019) and 8…

Do you have a source for these stats?

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