Bandit Gang Writ Large

Government Against the People: It Gets Worse In the Late Stages

"It’s a simple but disturbing truth: A late-stage state’s modus operandi must always be 'government against the people' – one that is inherently predatory. And it’s not because the participants are all sociopaths (though many are). At most times, governments try very hard to skim quietly, as with payroll taxes, where the producer’s money is taken away before he or she ever holds it in their hands. That’s also why tariffs were a traditional tax – the average person never saw it, and didn’t feel violated. But when governments are massively over-extended, they lose the luxury of the quiet skim and become more aggressive." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGovernment Against the People: It Gets Worse In the Late Stages

Ebay: Tell your Members of Congress How New Internet Taxes Will Impact You

"An Internet Sales Tax bill could greatly reduce selection and competitive prices by putting new tax burdens on small businesses. The bills proposed require very small businesses that use the Internet to collect sales taxes from out-of-state customers, increasing their cost of doing business and reducing their ability to compete with giant retail chains. Very small businesses, often with only a handful of employees, could actually be threatened and sued by out-of-state tax collectors, even from states thousands of miles away. All of these new costs may not only harm small businesses that use the Internet, but could also harm shoppers like you by reducing competition and choice." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEbay: Tell your Members of Congress How New Internet Taxes Will Impact You

EU governments get cold feet on financial transactions tax

"Prospects of an EU tax on financial transactions have been put into question by confusion on how it would work and a legal challenge by the UK. A six-page-long memo drafted by civil servants in the EU Council last week - seen by EUobserver - indicates cooling enthusiasm among the 11 EU countries which supported the introduction of a financial transactions tax (FTT). The officials say the FTT, which includes a 0.1 percent levy on bonds and shares and 0.01 percent on derivative products, would hit repurchase agreements on sovereign bonds, forcing up the cost of financing government debt." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEU governments get cold feet on financial transactions tax

Swiss court orders stolen East German millions returned

"The ruling, upholding an earlier verdict by a lower court, concerns the transfer into a Swiss bank of 128 million euros from the communist East Germany after the impoverished country's demise in 1990. This transfer by Rudolfine Steindling, a colourful Austrian communist dubbed 'Fini the Red' who died last year, was conducted by a former subsidiary of Bank Austria, itself now part of Italy's UniCredit. In the 1990s Germany, by then reunified, complained that Steindling had no right to the money, which was amassed by East Germany charging fees from Western firms investing there, and that Bank Austria knew this." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSwiss court orders stolen East German millions returned

Zurich Mayor Renounces U.S. Citizenship Amid Tighter Tax Rules

"Corine Mauch, 52, a member of the Socialist Party born in Iowa City, Iowa, returned her passport to the U.S. Embassy as she regards Switzerland as her home and doesn’t want to deal with IRS paperwork. 'My relationship with the U.S. is limited to my very early youth,' said Mauch, who retains Swiss citizenship. 'Neither the double taxation or any new directives on the taxation of U.S. citizens outside the U.S. have affected this decision. But I won’t miss the U.S. tax bureaucracy either.' The U.S. is the only nation in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that taxes citizens wherever they reside, including an estimated six million expatriates." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingZurich Mayor Renounces U.S. Citizenship Amid Tighter Tax Rules

White House: Internet sales tax ‘will level the playing field’

"'We believe that the Marketplace Fairness Act will level the playing field for local small-business retailers, who are undercut every day by out-of-state online companies,' said White House spokesman Jay Carney. The Act would require Internet and remote retailers to collect state sales taxes no matter where they are located when a transaction takes place, and advocates hope it would ease budget problems in many cash-strapped states. Opponents of the Act say it would still be unfair because retailers in a state which has no sales tax would still be liable to collect tax on purchases made in distant states which do have sales taxes." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhite House: Internet sales tax ‘will level the playing field’

Never throw away your tax returns

"David started working in his teens. Surely, he has 40 credits (or 10 years) in the system? Yes, he does. But having gotten rid of his older tax returns, he can no longer prove it. David asked the IRS for copies of certain missing years, dating back to about 20 years ago. Not only did the IRS not have copies, but they didn’t even have electronic transcripts going that far back. What can David do? Not a thing. He accepted this philosophically, knowing he must work two more years to build up his benefits. How can you avoid this problem? It’s easy. Never, ever throw out a tax return." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNever throw away your tax returns

Online sales tax overwhelmingly passes cloture vote

"The Marketplace Fairness Act, which would allow states the mechanism to start collecting taxes for online sales, overwhelmingly passed a Senate cloture vote Monday night, circumventing regular order and drawing concern from a minority of Senators. Seventy four Senators voted in favor of the motion, while 20 dissented. Many of those represent states that, like New Hampshire, do not have a state sales tax and argue the passage of this bill will be consequential for their small businesses. One consequence cited was the states’ potential power to collect sales tax on financial transactions done online, specifically on Americans' 401(k) accounts." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingOnline sales tax overwhelmingly passes cloture vote

13 corrections officers indicted in Md., accused of aiding gang’s drug scheme

"More than a dozen Maryland state prison guards helped a dangerous national gang operate a drug-trafficking and money-laundering scheme from behind bars that involved cash payments, sex and access to fancy cars, federal prosecutors said Tuesday. Thirteen female corrections officers essentially handed over control of a Baltimore jail to gang leaders, prosecutors said. The indictment described a jailhouse seemingly out of control. Four corrections officers became pregnant by one inmate. Two of them got tattoos of the inmate’s first name, Tavon — one on her neck, the other on a wrist." Continue reading →

Continue Reading13 corrections officers indicted in Md., accused of aiding gang’s drug scheme

German Tax Officials Launch Nationwide Raids With Stolen Swiss Bank Data

"A total of five German states clubbed together to buy the CD for €4 million from an anonymous informant, said sources close to the Rhineland-Palatinate government, which arranged the deal. The information was distributed to tax authorities across Germany some six weeks ago. Tuesday's raids only mark the start of an extensive investigation that could last until the end of the year. Authorities expect that the media coverage of the raids will prompt many tax evaders to turn themselves in to authorities so that they can lessen their penalties. The current raids affected customers with accounts in Credit Suisse, the former Clariden Leu AG and Neue Aargauer Bank." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGerman Tax Officials Launch Nationwide Raids With Stolen Swiss Bank Data