BF2S Forums More Rich Americans Renounce U.S. Citizenship for Lower Taxes

Varegg wrote:

JohnG@lt wrote:

Varegg wrote:

There is also to consider that in some countries you actually get value for your taxes ... just saying ...

While placing a yoke around your neck.

Care to elaborate?

lowing wrote:

...........and which US subsidized country do you live it again?

Norway, and we manage just fine on our own thank you very much ... we have this crazy idea that a balanced budget is okay and that overspending is bad ... try it, it works ...

I absolutely would love to give that a try. Maybe the money we spend defending Europe so Europe doesn't have to defend themselves could go into something a little more worth while back home.

For 250 grand id blow up a bus of school children. Wtf mek

Why would you not move for that? england has shit weather, shit people, shit laws and shit taxes.

Get me to new zealand, stat.

Most countries have pretty well clamped down on tax-havens.
You can choose to lie on your tax return but thats up to you.

Uzique wrote:

or just act even more clever and put the bulk of your liquid cash into foreign, tax-haven bank accounts...

and enjoy the relatively high quality of life in your native-country.

And then get sent to prison for tax fraud \o/

i think you're refering to the missile shield?

lowing wrote:

I absolutely would love to give that a try. Maybe the money we spend defending Europe so Europe doesn't have to defend themselves could go into something a little more worth while back home.

The US spends a good deal more money defending Israel than Europe, go bitch at them.

FatherTed wrote:

i think you're refering to the missile shield?

our entire military presence and all the cost associated with that presence in Europe.

Uzique wrote:

Jenspm wrote:

Uzique wrote:

or just act even more clever and put the bulk of your liquid cash into foreign, tax-haven bank accounts...

and enjoy the relatively high quality of life in your native-country.

And then get sent to prison for tax fraud \o/

err if you have that sorta money then you undoubtedly have 'that' sorta representation and 'that' sorta accountant...

you'd have to be incredibly dumb or negligent to get caught by the authorities. even my grandfather, who owned a lot of real estate and a land-development company in his early life, admitted to me recently that he had the 'company account' and then a 'family estates' account that he would siphon off large amounts of money to. taxes, charges and declared-funds could then be 'fiddled' that way, changing the balance sheets. loads of business do it, filtering off hidden charges and undeclared profits to off-shore or seemingly 'unrelated' business ventures. only a company/individual already under investigation is going to draw that much suspicion from the tax/business authorities.

Well, when your neighbours see you driving around in a Ferrari and and living in a mansion, yet you're only listed with an income of £30k a registered wealth of £3k, you might well end up under investigation..

lowing wrote:

jord wrote:

lowing wrote:

I absolutely would love to give that a try. Maybe the money we spend defending Europe so Europe doesn't have to defend themselves could go into something a little more worth while back home.

Lol. That argument is so done to death. The conclusion is the usa entered the war, albeit late because they wouldn't have been able to withstand an attack from a europe united under facism.

Did I mention late yet...?

I am not talking about ww2 jord

While it is true that we essentially serve as the world's police, that doesn't excuse our inability to balance our budgets.  When it comes to debt spending, we're quickly moving towards the more insolvent end of the highly developed world.  We're not nearly as bad as Japan when it comes to public debt vs. GDP, but we're starting to match a lot of Europe with regard to it.

Granted, it is easier for smaller countries like Norway to balance their budgets when they don't have to pay for much of a military, and the nature of their politics is less partisan and pork-filled.  Both Canada and Norway may be more socialist than us, but neither of them have as much of a problem with pork as we do.

In terms of corporate taxation, both Canada and Norway have lower rates as well.  Granted, they both have higher personal income taxes.

If nothing else, these countries show us that the economic ideal involves having a small population with a lot of resources.  But, as you implied, Norway would likely be spending more on their military than they currently do if it weren't for our own spending.

Of course, that begs the question...  Why do we spend as much as we do?

If anything, the onus here should be on us (no pun intended) to more responsibly spend on our military (and to minimize our pork), so that the rest of the developed world eventually picks up the slack militarily, allowing for a more reasonable balance of the burdens of intervention.

Uzique wrote:

Jenspm wrote:

Uzique wrote:

or just act even more clever and put the bulk of your liquid cash into foreign, tax-haven bank accounts...

and enjoy the relatively high quality of life in your native-country.

And then get sent to prison for tax fraud \o/

err if you have that sorta money then you undoubtedly have 'that' sorta representation and 'that' sorta accountant...

you'd have to be incredibly dumb or negligent to get caught by the authorities. even my grandfather, who owned a lot of real estate and a land-development company in his early life, admitted to me recently that he had the 'company account' and then a 'family estates' account that he would siphon off large amounts of money to. taxes, charges and declared-funds could then be 'fiddled' that way, changing the balance sheets. loads of business do it, filtering off hidden charges and undeclared profits to off-shore or seemingly 'unrelated' business ventures. only a company/individual already under investigation is going to draw that much suspicion from the tax/business authorities.

To a degree yes...  but then again, we've recently seen what happens when the American government decides to investigate a popular tax haven.  Remember what happened a few years ago regarding Swiss bank accounts?  The same could happen to places like the Cayman Islands.

Jenspm wrote:

jord wrote:

Jens people are smarter than that, that's a really poor hypothetical.

Many people do it all their lives and get away with it, probably many more than the idiots that get caught.

Sure, but I'd rather pay my taxes and live whatever life I can afford rather than hide it away in the Caymans and lay low and hope nobody notices I'm richer than I say I am.

You can still live the same life when you undeclared money abroad. You don't need to hide from anyone, your neighbour doesn't know how much you earn or put on your tax returns, and its none of their business. If you're earning 90k a year and put down 60k instead nobody will know unless you do stupid shit or brag. Politcal reasons about tax squandering aside, on a personal level if you can increase your income by 10-25% with little risk you're going to.

Dilbert_X wrote:

Turq wrote:

Of course, that begs the question...  Why do we spend as much as we do?

You answered already - pork.

... and not only for your own - most of the so-called "western world" is also involved in the scheme.

Turquoise wrote:

Dilbert_X wrote:

Turq wrote:

Of course, that begs the question...  Why do we spend as much as we do?

You answered already - pork.

Well, I was referring to our military spending...   Some of that is pork for the military industrial complex, but some of it also involves legitimate interventionism that is a net benefit to the world.

While it is true that a lot of our interventionism is just a matter of economic interests, some of it is humanitarian.  Humanitarian interventionism should be more evenly spread in its costs amongst the wealthiest nations.

I was referring to your military spending too.

Other nations intervene too BTW.