Magyar
27th January 2009, 10:10 AM
So this is another installment of the "do the rich pay too much or not enough taxes".
My knowledge of economics is limited and my bias is most definitely leaning towards
agreeing with Johnston.
Invade the Caymans
In 1983 just 10 percent of America's corporate profits were funneled through places that charge little or no corporate income tax; today more than 25 percent of profits go through tax havens. The Obama administration could tell the Caymans—now fifth in the world in bank deposits—to repeal its bank secrecy laws or be invaded; since the island nation's total armed forces consists of about 300 police officers, it shouldn't be hard for technicians and auditors, accompanied by a few Marines, to fly in and seize all the records. Bermuda, which relies on the Royal Navy for its military, could be next, and so on. Long before we get to Switzerland and Luxembourg, their governments should have gotten the message.
Barring gunboat diplomacy (tempting as it is), there is no reason we cannot pass laws to block financial transactions with tax havens or even, Cuba-style, make it a crime for Americans to visit or do business with them without special permission. Congress could declare the hiding of funds a threat to national security and require that anyone with offshore assets disclose them to the irs within 30 days and pay taxes, interest, and penalties within 180 days. For the holdouts, temporary special teams in the irs and Justice Department could speedily pursue civil or criminal charges.
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2009/01/fiscal-therapy.html
According to Johnston the tax inequity in the US is about 1 Billion dollars PER DAY - that is to say that the ultra rich especially, pay that much LESS of the taxes they should based on current laws.
Did you know that the sales taxes you pay at most Wal-Marts go not to your state or local government, but instead pay back the cost of building the store? Sales-tax givebacks, as well as exemptions from property taxes, can amount to an extra 9 percent profit for retailers that extract concessions from local governments.
This was another interesting bit. He was also on NPR today and talked about how this also applies to most newly built mega malls and utility companies! While I as a small business owner who has a web presence have to deal with states 100 - 1000s of miles from me where I've never been and don't intend to go who want me to pay license and tax cert fees and collect local sales tax from me because I sold one widget to one customer in 5 years.
As I said, I don't know that much about economics so I don't know if Johnston is wrong or on what counts. There seems to be a lot of people on this forum who, from what I understand, totally dissagree with Johnston.
Can any of you point me to a clear easy to read rebuttle that ISN'T the debunked trickle down theory in drag?
My knowledge of economics is limited and my bias is most definitely leaning towards
agreeing with Johnston.
Invade the Caymans
In 1983 just 10 percent of America's corporate profits were funneled through places that charge little or no corporate income tax; today more than 25 percent of profits go through tax havens. The Obama administration could tell the Caymans—now fifth in the world in bank deposits—to repeal its bank secrecy laws or be invaded; since the island nation's total armed forces consists of about 300 police officers, it shouldn't be hard for technicians and auditors, accompanied by a few Marines, to fly in and seize all the records. Bermuda, which relies on the Royal Navy for its military, could be next, and so on. Long before we get to Switzerland and Luxembourg, their governments should have gotten the message.
Barring gunboat diplomacy (tempting as it is), there is no reason we cannot pass laws to block financial transactions with tax havens or even, Cuba-style, make it a crime for Americans to visit or do business with them without special permission. Congress could declare the hiding of funds a threat to national security and require that anyone with offshore assets disclose them to the irs within 30 days and pay taxes, interest, and penalties within 180 days. For the holdouts, temporary special teams in the irs and Justice Department could speedily pursue civil or criminal charges.
http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2009/01/fiscal-therapy.html
According to Johnston the tax inequity in the US is about 1 Billion dollars PER DAY - that is to say that the ultra rich especially, pay that much LESS of the taxes they should based on current laws.
Did you know that the sales taxes you pay at most Wal-Marts go not to your state or local government, but instead pay back the cost of building the store? Sales-tax givebacks, as well as exemptions from property taxes, can amount to an extra 9 percent profit for retailers that extract concessions from local governments.
This was another interesting bit. He was also on NPR today and talked about how this also applies to most newly built mega malls and utility companies! While I as a small business owner who has a web presence have to deal with states 100 - 1000s of miles from me where I've never been and don't intend to go who want me to pay license and tax cert fees and collect local sales tax from me because I sold one widget to one customer in 5 years.
As I said, I don't know that much about economics so I don't know if Johnston is wrong or on what counts. There seems to be a lot of people on this forum who, from what I understand, totally dissagree with Johnston.
Can any of you point me to a clear easy to read rebuttle that ISN'T the debunked trickle down theory in drag?