General Discussion
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(8,159 posts)And with TPP can't all these countries move out and still get out of taxes.
Igel
(35,323 posts)If you think taxable entities should pay all the taxes then can, stop taking any deductions. You don't have to itemize or take the standard deduction on your taxes; they're optional. In a very real sense, I'm as much a tax dodger because I take what exemptions and deductions I'm allowed under the law. So do you, I'm sure. But realizing that independently that would require introspection, very much not an American virtue these days.
Much of their money's earned overseas and taxed there. At least some of the money claimed as "profit" is kept overseas and invested. Makes better sense than having it taxed there, having it taxed here, and then moving it back overseas to invest in infrastructure. That would be idiocy and failing their fiduciary responsibility to their owners. Some of those private individuals; some of those are pensions. Pension money comes from somewhere, not just what people pay into it. And their first responsibility isn't to people to benefit from tax expenditures, however much we think we should be at the center of everybody else's universe. (It's only natural that I should be the most important thing in their lives, and infuriates me that they don't realize just how important I am.)
A contributing factor to not bringing at least some of the money into the US are the low interest rates we all seem to like. If Apple needs $5 billion for its US infrastructure, it's cheaper to borrow it than the bring $5 billion home.
Want the money brought to the US? Take less of it when it comes across the border. Non-US countries have little problem with this because it's how they do things. We keep saying we should be more like Europe, but only when it benefits us and ours. It's a pointless and fallacious appeal to authority and should be treated with the respect any fallacy deserves.
TeamPooka
(24,236 posts)is so bad.
Why do we have to change the law to make them do the right thing?
Plus they're fucking their shareholders through this whole thing too by silo-ing the money overseas.
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)they would be sued by their shareholders, and rightfully so. Call your congressman if you don't like the law that Apple is following.
TeamPooka
(24,236 posts)MiniMe
(21,718 posts)That's all you need to know.
Ichigo Kurosaki
(167 posts)Congress critters.
We had full control of Congress for 2 years and did nothing about tax reform.
progressoid
(49,992 posts)Octafish
(55,745 posts)Wanna know where a lot of the money "lost" in the great Bankster Bailout has gone?
Check Out Who's Hiding $32 Trillion in Offshore Tax Haven Accounts
EXCERPT...
Some $32 trillion has been hidden in small island banking hubs which host a bevy of trust funds, shell corporations and other tax havens, the Tax Justice Network estimates.
SNIP...
The information is still being sifted through, even as it's being released to the public, but here's some of what's been found so far:
■ American Denise Rich, ex-wife of pardoned tax cheat Marc Rich, has been uncovered as the settlor and beneficiary of two large trusts based in the tiny Cook Islands. The ICIJ found that Denise Rich gave up her American citizenship in 2012. Her citizenship was convenient enough when President Clinton had the authority to pardon her ex-husband.
■ French President Francois Hollande, ardent socialist and tireless champion of the 75% marginal tax rate, appears in these documents, mostly by association. His campaign co-treasurer, Jean-Jacques Augier, has been forced to reveal the name of his Chinese business partner in a Caymans-based distribution company. Augier says he used his offshore company to make a large investment in China.
■ Australian actor Paul Hogan, of "Crocodile Dundee" fame, has lost about $35.3 million from an account that he used to offshore his "bonza" film royalties. His once-trusted tax adviser Philip Egglishaw ran off with Hogan's sizeable hidden offshore stash.
■ French banking scion Elie de Rothschild, of the famous banking family, has been named in the leaks. He was instrumental in setting up some 20 trusts and 10 holding companies in the Cook Islands, all extremely opaque in nature. His heirs have, not surprisingly, refused comment.
■ Brigitte Bardot's third ex-husband, Gunter Sachs, a millionaire industrialist, has been revealed as the owner of a huge, obscure wealth-masking machine: trust upon shell company upon holding company, almost ad infinitum, mostly based in the Cook Islands. The ICIJ has constructed an interactive map of Sachs' extensive offshore holdings and business networks. The network is fairly representative of the steps that many on this list have taken to hide their wealth away. You can marvel at its imponderable complexity here.
And these names are barely the tip of the iceberg. The shockwaves have already begun to spread through the corridors of wealth and power all over the world.
How Much is $32 Trillion?
It bears repeating: $32 trillion has been stashed away, off the books, by corporations and wealthy individuals.
CONTINUED...
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article40250.html
Offshore loot also represents money made from trafficking in drugs, guns and people. So...what can we do about it?
On My Mind
Tax Offshore Wealth Sitting In First World Banks
James S. Henry
07.01.10, 09:00 AM EDT
Forbes Magazine dated July 19, 2010
Let's tax offshore private wealth.
How can we get the world's wealthiest scoundrels--arms dealers, dictators, drug barons, tax evaders--to help us pay for the soaring costs of deficits, disaster relief, climate change and development? Simple: Levy a modest withholding tax on untaxed private offshore loot.
Many aboveground economies around the world are struggling, but the economic underground is booming. By my estimate, there is $15 trillion to $20 trillion in private wealth sitting offshore in bank accounts, brokerage accounts and hedge fund portfolios, completely untaxed.
SNIP...
This wealth is concentrated. Nearly half of it is owned by 91,000 people--[font color="green"]0.001% of the world's population[/font color]. Ninety-five percent is owned by the planet's wealthiest 10 million people.
SNIP...
Is it feasible? Yes. The majority of offshore wealth is managed by 50 banks. As of September 2009 these banks accounted for $10.8 trillion of offshore assets--72% of the industry's total. The busiest 10 of them manage 40%.
CONTINUED....
http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2010/0719/opinions-taxation-tax-havens-banking-on-my-mind.html
Not only would that money make college easy, it would balance the budget, erase the debt and fix the nation and world's problems from hunger and homeless to energy and education; it would free humanity to do better things than make war all the time to make sure the tax dodgers' loot stays in their pockets.