CLibertyC

Will IRS Find Your Small Foreign Bank Account?

"FBAR penalties can be enormous, a civil penalty of $10,000 for each non-willful violation. If your violation is willful, the penalty is the greater of $100,000 or 50% of the amount in the account for each violation. Each year you didn’t file is a separate violation. Criminal penalties are even more frightening, including a fine of $250,000 and 5 years of imprisonment. If the FBAR violation occurs while violating another law (such as tax law, which it often will) the penalties are increased to $500,000 in fines and/or 10 years of imprisonment. Many violent felonies are punished less harshly." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWill IRS Find Your Small Foreign Bank Account?

Why marijuana taxes are such a burning question

"In November, Colorado voters will decide on a proposed 15% excise tax, plus a 10% state sales tax, on all retail cannabis sales. In addition, Denver might levy its own 5% tax on pot sales made within the city. City officials say that 5% tax, along with other fees and state revenue, could add over $9 million annually to Denver's coffers. But advocates for legal marijuana say excessive taxes will drive people away from state-controlled cannabis and back to the black market. 'When you start thinking about it, in terms of what that's going to do to the cost to the consumer for cannabis, it's pretty ridiculous,' says Westword, Denver's weekly alternative paper." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingWhy marijuana taxes are such a burning question

Shanghai sees global status via new free-trade zone

"Under the plan, endorsed by the State Council on Wednesday, Shanghai is expected to allow companies to freely convert foreign exchange within specified areas of the city while allowing free capital and commodity inflow for the entire city. Mayor Yang Xiong said Shanghai’s future hinged on the free trade zone, which could give the city a leg-up over rivals. Shanghai’s ambitions to become the nation’s economic engine, leapfrogging Hong Kong as the dominant financial hub in the region are an open secret. The long-awaited policy incentive granted by the cabinet will only add heft to the city’s attempts to attract global capital and talent." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingShanghai sees global status via new free-trade zone

EPA sues Oklahoma utility for failing to estimate emissions that did not occur

"The EPA claims that OG&E failed to estimate emissions that did not occur. They are suing OG&E in an effort to force the company 'to assess whether its projects were likely to result in a significant [GHG] emissions increase.' The EPA had no authority to regulate GHG emissions when the work was done (2003 & 2006). The work (on boilers and turbine blade replacements) caused no emissions increase." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingEPA sues Oklahoma utility for failing to estimate emissions that did not occur

Austrian Steelmaker Offshores Production To … Texas

"Like many titans, the company is under pressure to increase profits while revenues are declining. Hence the need to cut costs. One solution: offshoring to cheap countries! The company announced in its annual report that it would undertake 'its largest ever foreign investment – construction of a direct reduction plant,' not in cheap countries like China or Indonesia, but in Texas. The plant will employ 150 people. The price of natural gas in the US is 'about one quarter of the price in Europe,' the company conceded. It would allow the company to produce low-cost HBI for its plants in Linz and Donawitz and ensure 'their competitiveness in the long term.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAustrian Steelmaker Offshores Production To … Texas

Health Care Non-Insurance

"Health care insurance premiums in 2014 will rise 100%. Some will rise 400%. Premiums will not rise for my wife. She is exempt from ObamaCare, yet she has no health insurance. She has health care non-insurance. She pays $85 a month for a program of shared liability for sickness. It's not insurance, legally. It is not regulated by the government. If she has to get an operation or major medical service, she will not have to pay. For an extra $2 a month, she is in a supplemental program in case the bill goes above $125,000. It does not pay for office visits or prescriptions." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHealth Care Non-Insurance

US Relaxes Health Law Income, Insurance Status Rule for Exchanges

"Until now, the administration had proposed that exchanges verify whether new applicants receive employer-sponsored insurance benefits through random checks. It also sought to require marketplaces to verify each enrollee's income status. But final regulations released quietly on Friday by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) give 16 states and the District of Columbia, which are setting up their own exchanges, until 2015 to begin random sampling of enrollees' employer-insurance status. The rules also allow only random— rather than comprehensive—checks on income eligibility in 2014." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingUS Relaxes Health Law Income, Insurance Status Rule for Exchanges

The Shoes Keep on Dropping… What Next?

"All branches of the Federal Government have been complicit in the warrantless surveillance of U.S. residents since before World War II when FDR authorized wiretaps of individuals suspected of Nazi sympathies. With the passage of the National Security Act in 1952 and the establishment of the National Security Council, it became standard government practice. Only the rudimentary technology of the time limited its scope. Fear – now of terrorism and whatever other apprehension the government, particularly the executive, can stir up — continues as the principal determinant of 21st century government surveillance of its citizens." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe Shoes Keep on Dropping… What Next?

Revealed: How Microsoft handed the NSA access to encrypted messages

"Microsoft helped the NSA to circumvent its encryption to address concerns that the agency would be unable to intercept web chats on the new Outlook.com portal; [...]; The company worked with the FBI this year to allow the NSA easier access via Prism to its cloud storage service SkyDrive, which now has more than 250 million users worldwide; [...] Skype, which was bought by Microsoft in October 2011, worked with intelligence agencies last year to allow Prism to collect video of conversations as well as audio; Material collected through Prism is routinely shared with the FBI and CIA, with one NSA document describing the program as a 'team sport'." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRevealed: How Microsoft handed the NSA access to encrypted messages

Man Has Home Ransacked by Police for Paying Cash

"It all started one Saturday morning when Jarl Syvertsen, a 59-year-old disabled Norwegian man, purchased a PC, TVs, and washing machines for 80,000 kroner which he paid in cash. On Sunday a male and a female police officer appeared on Mr Syvertsen’s doorstep. The police were there with a warrant to search his home, charging that the cash he had spent was money that 'came from a criminal offense.' In fact, the money was actually part of an approximately one-million dollar advance on an inheritance he had received. The police would have none of it and proceeded to invade his home and his privacy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingMan Has Home Ransacked by Police for Paying Cash