61–70 of 167 posts
Remember when the Panama Papers came out and absolutely nothing happened? On the plus side, exploitation of the system by the richest has been going on for millennia, the only difference is that today more people are aware of it.
I am fairly certain 40% of all citizens would shift their income to a tax haven if possible.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The problem with that is the expenses are already arbitrary with international businesses. It is Hollywood accounting of making movies "never turn a profit" writ large and arguably more honest. If say Amazon UK "rents" their branding, storefront, and similiar from Amazon US the value. Essentially unfixed value goods + deductions = massive loophole. Unfixed fuzzy values are also very valuable to money launderers. It i…
That's why I think corporation tax should be applied to UK Sales - UK Costs. - Buy in the branding from the US? That can't be deducted. - Import from China? Can't be deducted. - Employ more people. Deductible - Buy more from UK suppliers. Deductible. Now go on and export more with that. Those export sales won't affect your tax.
Effectively, you would be taxing them on revenue, rather than profit.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Honestly, I'm down for paying taxes. It pays for my lifestyle and is propostional to my lifestyle. If I own land, that land is only valuable due to the society that land exists in. It's protected, and safe, due to public services like roads, which law enforcement, fire control folks, postal service, and ambulances drive upon. I've earned my income from a lifetime of education, starting from my public school kindergar…
I think most people would be down for paying taxes, however their main gripe, in my opinion, is that the quality of services (infrastructure, tax dollars being used for NSA spying on citizens, etc.) we're getting back for our tax dollars is dropping while taxes increase.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's exactly how I feel about it. I don't think "paying" taxes are something that is honorable. The money is removed from you forcefully.
Honestly, I'm down for paying taxes. It pays for my lifestyle and is propostional to my lifestyle. If I own land, that land is only valuable due to the society that land exists in. It's protected, and safe, due to public services like roads, which law enforcement, fire control folks, postal service, and ambulances drive upon. I've earned my income from a lifetime of education, starting from my public school kindergar…
Consumption tax is also easier to be set to a geographic location, and harder to shift to different tax jurisdiction.
Harder to play games in comparison to an income tax.
But nobody wants it. Very unpopular in a vote because, people rather have someone else pay such as rich people and corporations.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Honestly, I'm down for paying taxes. It pays for my lifestyle and is propostional to my lifestyle. If I own land, that land is only valuable due to the society that land exists in. It's protected, and safe, due to public services like roads, which law enforcement, fire control folks, postal service, and ambulances drive upon. I've earned my income from a lifetime of education, starting from my public school kindergar…
I suspect few people here think they should pay no tax, however I’m quite sure that most would disagree about what the “right” amount would/should be. Furthermore, this is exacerbated by the quality and quantity of public goods different people use (e.g. there are plenty of people that have never set foot in any type of public school/university)
I currently spend a little over 30% of my income as the sticker price to living in a first world country. Compared to the price of renting an apartment in my city, I think this is a steal.
People who never set foot in any type of public school or university benefit from everyone else being educated, because everyone else designs their clothes, their cars, their planes, their buildings, roads, computing devices, etc.
No one is self sufficient in the society I live in. It's totally possible to go and be self sufficient. This reduces your income so you don't pay taxes, since you're not interacting with government-protected, government-manipulated currency. Seems reasonable to me.
Corporations being able to book their profits wherever they find it most convenient to book them, is utterly unreasonable. They make their profits in specific markets, and should be paying their taxes there. Profits made from selling in the US should be paid in the US, profits made from selling in Germany should be paid there. The problem is, profits are the end result of a lot of complex corporate operations across…
The problem with that is the expenses are already arbitrary with international businesses. It is Hollywood accounting of making movies "never turn a profit" writ large and arguably more honest. If say Amazon UK "rents" their branding, storefront, and similiar from Amazon US the value. Essentially unfixed value goods + deductions = massive loophole. Unfixed fuzzy values are also very valuable to money launderers. It i…
I still think that would actually close these loopholes. It would erect some barriers to international trade, though, because companies making their costs and revenue in the same market have an advantage over companies coming from other markets. I don't think that's necessarily bad, though, and it can be mitigated by trade deals by which countries decide to treat their markets as a single market for these purposes as long as their tax rates are similar enough. Of course then they shouldn't make those deals with tax havens, and they'd be stupid to do so, because they'd be inviting a loss in tax revenue if they did that.
I am fairly certain 40% of all citizens would shift their income to a tax haven if possible.
Based on that premise: Should we, as a society, permit a select few to shift their wealth to tax havens or should those folks also join in with everyone else? Are those sheltering their taxes more privileged that they deserve being able skirt the rules others can't, even if others would do so given the same circumstances?
What is the meaning of private property if individuals can not move it abroad as they wish?
A more productive line of inquiry might be an examination of what tax authorities can do to make their schemes more palatable.
Perhaps the experiment of liberalism (as suggested in the 18th century) has failed if government has reached the point where it is trying to optimize and maximize revenue. It seems that liberalism has arrived at the same place that inspired the guillotine and the Boston tea party.
Naively, when those profits are moved out of the tax-haven, they will create income, profits or dividends on the entities they are transferred to, and those will be taxed in turn. But there are probably ways around these taxes, what would the point be otherwise?