Look how the "elite" banksters act when it comes to sharing sacrifice in any way. John Paulson, hedge fund manager, might be moving to Puerto Rico from NYC to avoid taxes. Apparently taxes from other people are good enough to provide military and law enforcement to protect people like Paulson, good enough to provide highways, and schools, and hospitals for Paulson. Good enough to provide electricity so that he can lose money on bad trades via his computers, but still not deserving of Paulson's money.
Now let's see which members in the media, business, and politics that wear flag lapel pins will criticize this move and demand immediate action. Which pension funds will immediately sever all ties to Paulson because which Americans would want public servants to help fund this nonsense for one more day?
They have billions, they make billions even when they are unable to beat market indexes, and yet sharing any sort of burden is unfathomable to them. And yet they demand people that can't find jobs or struggle to find enough part-time jobs to make ends meet and stay alive sacrifice more, more, more.
Read it. Because we don't have this option and even if we did, leaving New York or any other of the States never crossed our minds for tax purposes. Now let's see who will do something about this in power. Who will step up and look out for us and put an end to this. "Best and brightest" and "job creators" - never have these words meant so little. We're told to sacrifice endlessly and the burden on us increases as it decreases on them, but enough is enough.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-11/paulson-said-to-explore-puerto-...
Comments
free flow of capital across national boundaries
Has done so much harm to the national interest, such as allowing multinationals to avoid taxes. What a whiner, he pays just 15% as it is, and we're not even mentioning the loopholes which allow him to pay little. What has been his tax bill?
A fix for this could be built into contracts
From the article: "Under the Puerto Rican law, any capital gains accrued after a person moves there would be tax free. Dividend and interest income paid by U.S. companies would still be subject to U.S. federal taxes, though would not be taxed locally. In addition, new residents can benefit from another new law that taxes business income earned in Puerto Rico at 4 percent. That law could potentially apply to hedge fund fees earned by a resident for services rendered for U.S.-based clients."
There's something very wrong here. If a pension fund invests in Paulson's funds, public servants living in California or New York or Indiana or wherever will pay local, state, and federal taxes as appropriate. They cannot relocate to Puerto Rico because of the very nature of their jobs and by law. However, Paulson can enjoy the benefits of their money and a lower taxation rate that those people enriching him cannot through the lower rates on fees he can enjoy in Puerto Rico. How's that for tax fairness?
There must be ways to fix this and to make sure it doesn't happen in the future (at least some government attorneys should be able to figure it out). Certainly if state or local governments are going to do business with people like this, certain requirements could be set up (let the attorneys + unions + watchdogs work it out). E.g., certain % of business has to be conducted within the 50 States, corporate HQ has to be in 50 States, management cannot relocate outside the 50 States during life of contract, company cannot get into new businesses to avoid taxes on management, or whatever other specifics and mechanisms were needed. If there was political will, this wouldn't happen. Details could be worked out by the parties. If he really wants $, then he can follow set rules. If he wants to get cute, then do it, but not with other people's $.
free movement of capital is lobbyist demand #1
They are subverting any financial regulation through trade agreements. TPP is chock full avoiding regulations and tax havens, as was the Panama trade treaty. Beyond offshore outsourcing jobs and real production, which we typically associate with these trade agreements, moving capital around the globe, subverting national law is probably the biggest lobbyist/multinational corporate agenda there is.
If you change Puerto Rico laws, which is a U.S. Territory, he'll just relocation to say Panama or some place more favorable.
Absolutely - Puerto Rico is just a pit stop
They can move their money all day, every day, and if individuals want to invest with Paulson and his ilk after seeing who they are, their returns (or lack thereof), management fees, lack of allegiance, etc., that's fine. But there's no reason whatsoever that governments at the national, state, or county level should do business with them. Treat them like pariahs. These people fight for lower taxes, shifting the burden on to loyal Americans, they bemoan public servants and their salaries, but do everything to take public servants' salaries in pensions. They rail against taxes, but enjoy the benefits of taxes themselves like the Departments of State and Defense and Commerce protecting their asses globally and helping them do business. They want to be above the law, fine, they don't get to enjoy the protection of the law.
Paulson will be in Puerto Rico until he gets a better deal from somewhere with no connection to the US like Ukraine, or Russia, or the Caymans, or Monaco, etc. Fine, go there. But he cannot enjoy protection of the US-taxpayer and cannot enjoy taxpayers paying into his funds via pensions. And if someone wants to take his passport to make it official, do it already. So when he gets into a tax dispute or has a megayacht boarded in Somalia and has a passport from North Korea in a few years, the North Korean government can step in, not us, not our $, not our military, not anymore. If Russia offers him a sweet deal, by all means, he should take it. But when that sweet deal turns out to be not-so-nice, he can enjoy himself in Russia's prisons. He thought the big tax man in the US was scary? Ha ha ha, best of luck in a Russian prison!
TPP - look at Japan. Farmers over there aren't too keen on that deal. For some reason lots of folks just don't see the benefits of these overarching trade deals. Seems people with a clue, here, Japan, Korea, South America all realize it's a glorified race to the bottom, and the only people who eventually prosper are the globalists at the top and the people at the very bottom. Everyone else gets flushed down.
First in Line
These folks make me puke. They say they are working capitalists yet as soon as the country needs them to do some work they go out for some Bacardi or Diageo's Captain Morgan. By the way both rums also subsidized heavily by the "free market" supporting congressmen on both dems and repubs sides in supporting the continued mollases subsidys.. Hope they like the box wine they will afford when we throw them all out in favor of a third party.