Talk:Tax haven
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I'm sure I'll be outvoted here, but this is way off mission. Secret Squirrel (talk) 01:38, 17 June 2010 (UTC)
- It seems vaguely relevant to tax protests/scandals/etc, and thus about as useful as the other random bios and definitions floating about. It could use some organization and a relationship to something directly on mission, though. ~ Kupochama[1][2] 02:01, 17 June 2010 (UTC)
- The mission does seem to be expanding. I mean, this isn't an example of the pseudolaw or frivolous tax protester stuff this site debunks - each country setting its own tax rates is perfectly legitimate, and some countries are just naturally going to have lower tax rates than others. I don't see it as a problem at all. Populist demagogues are going to raise holy hell about 'ONOZ corporations are incorporating in the Cayman Islands to dodge taxes', to which I say, so what? Secret Squirrel (talk) 02:17, 17 June 2010 (UTC)
- Recent developments have borne what you say out. Populist demagogues here in the States have been ranting and raving about U.S. citizens resident here in the U.S. opening foreign bank accounts to evade taxes, so they passed in Congress harsh reporting laws like FATCA. What they seemed to forget is that since the U.S. treats resident and nonresident citizens the same for tax purposes, which no other country does, it's really starting to hurt ordinary expats who aren't "fat cats", who have to file onerous tax returns (with the IRS estimating it would take 15 8-hour days to fill out one form), even if they owe no tax because of the foreign tax credit, and now can't open bank accounts in many cases because banks don't want to deal with FATCA. Many of them renounce so they can have a normal life in the countries where they live, but the U.S. government is now making that harder, imposing a $2350 fee to do so. Now the demagogues are going on and on about taking away passports of people not in compliance, apparently clueless to the fact that this would put ordinary expats, not "tax cheats", through the wringer.
- The mission does seem to be expanding. I mean, this isn't an example of the pseudolaw or frivolous tax protester stuff this site debunks - each country setting its own tax rates is perfectly legitimate, and some countries are just naturally going to have lower tax rates than others. I don't see it as a problem at all. Populist demagogues are going to raise holy hell about 'ONOZ corporations are incorporating in the Cayman Islands to dodge taxes', to which I say, so what? Secret Squirrel (talk) 02:17, 17 June 2010 (UTC)
- McGill University law professor Allison Christians discusses how the unintended consequences have impacted expats, as well as the defensiveness and defiance of American politicians to do anything to fix this:
- This website expresses the life experiences of ordinary expats who have to go through all this, and how the problems aren't necessarily the tax owing, per se, but the burdensome filing requirements and other impacts on their lives:
- It's pretty sad. It seems Democrats, just like Republicans, don't believe in learning from other countries' practices and are perfectly willing to defiantly keep running down a destructive course of action without regard for the consequences and without any reflection. This has caused me to feel alienated from U.S. politics.--Beneficii (talk) 00:18, 3 November 2016 (UTC)