YouTube Added: 29.12.2012
A look at what will happen to your taxes if the Congress doesn’t come to an agreement.
Taxpayers
France Seeks Other Ways To Impose Top Income-Tax Rate Of 75%
Before:
– French Constitutional Court Strikes Down 75% Millionaire Tax, Finds It ‘Unfair’
So Obelix will not return:
– Depardieu ‘Shrugged’ – Open Letter To French PM Jean-Marc Ayrault (From Gerard Depardieu)
– Gerard Depardieu Is Latest Refugee From French Millionaire Tax, Escapes To Belgium
– France Seeks New Path to High Tax (Wall Street Journal, Dec 31, 2012):
PARIS—The government of Socialist President François Hollande on Sunday said it would consider other ways of imposing a top income-tax rate of 75% on high-wealth individuals after the country’s top constitutional authority scrapped the plan.
The Constitutional Council’s decision is a political blow to Mr. Hollande, who had vowed to shift to the rich the burden of efforts to improve the country’s finances.
Read moreFrance Seeks Other Ways To Impose Top Income-Tax Rate Of 75%
Lou Dobbs: Our Fiscal Future (FOX News Video)
YouTube Added: 27.12.2012
US: 16 Things About 2013 That Are Really Going To Stink
See also:
– America’s 75 Economic Numbers From 2012 That Are Almost Too Crazy To Believe
– 16 Things About 2013 That Are Really Going To Stink (Economic Collapse, Dec 28, 2012):
The beginning of the year has traditionally been a time of optimism when we all look forward to the exciting things that are going to happen over the next 12 months. Unfortunately, there are a whole bunch of things about 2013 that we already know are going to stink. Taxes are going to go up, good paying jobs will continue to leave the country, small businesses will continue to be destroyed, the number of Americans living in poverty will continue to soar, our infrastructure will continue to decay, global food supplies will likely continue to dwindle and the U.S. national debt will continue to explode. Our politicians continue to pursue the same policies that got us into this mess, and yet they continue to expect things to magically turn around. But that is not the way that things work in the real world. Bad decisions lead to bad outcomes. Instead of realizing that what we are doing is not working, our “leaders” continue to give us more of the same. As a result, there are going to be a lot of things about 2013 that will not be great. Sticking our heads in the sand and pretending that everything will be “okay” somehow is not going to help anyone. We’ve got to make people understand exactly what is happening and why it is happening if we ever hope to see real changes.
The following are 16 things about 2013 that are really going to stink…
Read moreUS: 16 Things About 2013 That Are Really Going To Stink
U.S. Treasury Announces GM ‘Exit Strategy’ … Taxpayers To Lose Billions Of Dollars
– Treasury announces GM exit strategy; automaker buying 200 million shares from U.S. (The Detroit News, Dec 19, 2012):
Washington — The Obama administration said Wednesday it will sell 200 million shares — or 40 percent of its remaining stake in General Motors Co. — back to the automaker and announced plans to completely exit the Detroit automaker by March 2014.
Read moreU.S. Treasury Announces GM ‘Exit Strategy’ … Taxpayers To Lose Billions Of Dollars
The Economic Return Of Iceland Has Proved That The Joke Was On Ireland
Flashback:
– Iceland’s Economy Now Growing Faster Than The U.S. And EU After Arresting The Banksters
– Here Is What Happens If You Do Not Bail Out The Banksters And Avoid Getting Raped By The IMF
– Two Thirds Of Icelanders Oppose EU Membership
– A Lesson For Europe: Why Iceland Won’t Join The Euro (Video)
– The economic return of Iceland has proved that the joke was on us (Irish Independent, Dec 16, 2012):
WAY back in the autumn of 2008, the joke in financial circles was that the only difference between Ireland and Iceland was a letter and six months. Now, with the Icelandic banks preparing to issue foreign currency bonds once again, it turns out that the joke was on us.
Remember when the Icelandics did the unthinkable and, unlike Ireland, told bank creditors to take a hike? They also imposed capital controls and allowed the value of their currency to fall – the Icelandic krona has lost almost half of its value against the euro over the past five years.
The “experts” queued up to assure us that these latter-day Vikings would be severely punished for their impertinence. While no one forecast that a hole would open up in the North Atlantic and swallow Iceland whole, some of the predictions came pretty darned close.
Meanwhile, we in Ireland did what we were told and repaid over €70bn of bank bonds at par. By doing so, even at the cost of bankrupting the State, the “experts” assured us that we would retain the confidence of the markets. Now, four years later, it is clear that, not for the first time, the “experts” have got it wrong. Catastrophically and utterly wrong.
Read moreThe Economic Return Of Iceland Has Proved That The Joke Was On Ireland
Depardieu ‘Shrugged’ – Open Letter To French PM Jean-Marc Ayrault (From Gerard Depardieu)
– Depardieu ‘Shrugged’ (ZeroHedge, Dec 16, 2012):
Via Emmanuel Martin, Executive Director of
the Institute for Economic Studies-Europe (www.ies-europe.org) and editor of www.LibreAfrique.org.,Last week the big story in French headlines has been the tax exile of Gerard Depardieu in Nechin, Belgium, half a mile from the French border. French PM Jean-Marc Ayrault called the French movie star’s behavior “minable” (pathetic). A socialist MP, Yann Galut, even suggested that M. Depardieu loses his French nationality. In an open letter in the Journal Du Dimanche on December 16, Depardieu, who famously starred as Obélix, the big Gallic fellow of Astérix, carrying menhirs on his back – and sometimes throwing them at the Romans, replies. With a taste of Ayn Rand’s famous character John Galt. Gerard shrugged.
Depardieu begins by saying that what is pathetic is to call his behavior pathetic. Although he does not want to justify the many reasons of his choice, he makes it clear that he leaves after paying 85% of taxes on his income this year and € 145 million through his entire life; He leaves because the French PM thinks that “success, creation and talent, in fact difference, must be punished”. He then reminds Jean-Marc Ayrault that he set up companies that employ 80 people. Depardieu says he is ready to give up his French passport and his “Social Security” (the French public health care system, which he claims he never used).
This letter is important.
Read moreDepardieu ‘Shrugged’ – Open Letter To French PM Jean-Marc Ayrault (From Gerard Depardieu)
Prince Charles’s £700 Million Estate Accused Of Tax Avoidance
The duchy of Cornwall gave the prince an income of £18m last year, but says it is not subject to paying corporation tax
Prince Charles. As well as the duchy income, last year the prince received £2.2m in grants from the taxpayer to pay for his travel by private jet, helicopter and train, and the upkeep of Clarence House. Photograph: Geoff Caddick/PA
– Prince Charles’s £700m estate accused of tax avoidance (Guardian; Dec 14, 2012):
HMRC has been asked to investigate alleged tax avoidance by Prince Charles‘s £700m hereditary estate.
The duchy of Cornwall last year provided Charles with an income of £18m and HMRC’s anti-avoidance group is now being asked to examine its non-payment of corporation tax following a potentially significant court ruling on its legal status.
The issue has been raised by an accountant investigating the tax affairs of the duchy – an agricultural, commercial and residential landowner.
He has analysed the impact of a judicial ruling handed down last year. Anti-monarchy campaigners claim it shows the duchy is running “a well-entrenched tax avoidance scheme”.
Read morePrince Charles’s £700 Million Estate Accused Of Tax Avoidance
Show This To Anyone That Believes That Taxes Are Too Low
– Show This To Anyone That Believes That Taxes Are Too Low (Economic Collapse, Dec 6, 2012):
Every year average Americans pay dozens of different types of taxes, and yet many of our politicians are very open about the fact that they want to raise rates even higher and invent even more ways to bleed us all dry. Someday historians will look back and be absolutely amazed at how stupid we were. We have the most complicated tax code in all of human history and at this point the federal tax code is more than four times as long as the entire collected works of William Shakespeare. In many places it is so incomprehensible that nobody actually understands what it means and the entire thing is absolutely riddled with loopholes from the beginning to the end. Trust me, I used to study this stuff. Nobody could ever read the entire thing – it is close to four million words long. But that is just for federal income taxes. We have a number of other taxes taken out of our paychecks such as state income taxes, Social Security taxes and Medicare taxes. Sadly, the taxes taken out of your paycheck are only just the beginning. As I will detail below, there are more than 40 other taxes that average Americans pay each year in addition to the taxes that are taken out of our paychecks. Our politicians love to find ways that they can “raise revenue” without us feeling it. Most people just focus on income tax rates and they forget about the dozens of other ways that they are bleeding us dry. It really is kind of like “death by a thousand cuts”, and of course the middle class gets hit the hardest. The poor are exempt from many taxes, the ultra-wealthy are masters at cheating the system and avoiding taxes, and so the most pain is always felt by those in the middle. Hard working middle class families and small businesses all over America are being financially raped by this insidious system. If you know of anyone out there that believes that taxes are “too low”, please show this article to them.Just counting federal, state and local income taxes, some Americans will be paying marginal tax rates of over 50 percent in 2013. But like I said, there are a lot of other taxes we pay than just those.
The following are 44 more taxes that at least some average Americans are paying now or will be paying soon other than federal, state and local income taxes…
Read moreShow This To Anyone That Believes That Taxes Are Too Low
Two-Thirds Of Millionaires Left Britain To Avoid 50 Percent Tax Rate (Telegraph)
– Two-thirds of millionaires left Britain to avoid 50p tax rate (Telegraph, Nov 27, 2012):
Almost two-thirds of the country’s million-pound earners disappeared from Britain after the introduction of the 50p top rate of tax, figures have disclosed.
In the 2009-10 tax year, more than 16,000 people declared an annual income of more than £1 million to HM Revenue and Customs.
This number fell to just 6,000 after Gordon Brown introduced the new 50p top rate of income tax shortly before the last general election.
Read moreTwo-Thirds Of Millionaires Left Britain To Avoid 50 Percent Tax Rate (Telegraph)
Mortgage Interest Deduction, Once a Sacred Cow, Is Under Scrutiny
– Mortgage Interest Deduction, Once a Sacred Cow, Is Under Scrutiny (New York Times , Nov 26, 2012):
A tax break that has long been untouchable could soon be in for some serious scrutiny.
Many home buyers deduct their mortgage interest when assessing their tax bill, a perk that has helped bolster the income of millions of families — and the broader housing market.
But as President Obama and Congress try to hash out a deal to reduce the budget deficit, the mortgage interest deduction will likely be part of the discussion.
Read moreMortgage Interest Deduction, Once a Sacred Cow, Is Under Scrutiny
Obamacare’s Real Costs
Flashback:
– Judge Napolitano On The 2012 Election, Obamacare, And The Future Of Liberty (Video)
– 18 New Tax Hikes On Their Way Via Obamacare
– U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Obamacare … AS A TAX!!!
– U.S. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS CORE OF OBAMA HEALTH CARE
– CHANGE: Obamacare Creates $17 TRILLION In Unfunded Liabilities (Video)
– The Obamacare Mandate: Obama VERSUS Obama (Video) (Hilarious!!!)
– Judge Napolitano On Obamacare And The Supreme Court (Video)
– New Obamacare Regulation Calls For Free Sterilization For All College Women
– Obamacare’s Real Costs (Personal Liberty Digest, Nov 19, 2012):
“The Obama Care Health Care Reform Plan or Health Care For America Plan will cost the average American around $70.”–obamacarefacts.com
First of all, allow me to disabuse you of the notion that Obamacare has anything to do with “health” care. Obamacare is not about health. It’s not about lowering the cost of health insurance. And it’s not about ensuring that everyone is insured.
It is about locking more Americans into the clutches of the Big Pharma/Medical Industrial complex, providing more customers for Big Insurance and confiscating more wealth from individuals and businesses.
The American healthcare system should properly be called “sickcare.” It’s a subtle and esoteric system of population control with prescription drugs issued at the public expense by the drug cartel — the conglomerate of pharmaceutical houses.
They Are Going To Make It Nearly Impossible To Pass On A Farm Or A Business To Your Children
– They Are Going To Make It Nearly Impossible To Pass On A Farm Or A Business To Your Children (Economic Collapse, Nov 20, 2012):
If you have a farm or a small business, would you like to pass it on to your children when you die? Well, unless Congress does something, it is going to become much, much harder to do that starting next year. Right now, there is a 5 million dollar estate tax exemption and anything above that is taxed at 35 percent. But on January 1st, the exemption will go down to 1 million dollars and the tax rate will go up to 55 percent. A lot of liberals are very excited about this, because they believe that the government will be soaking wealthy people like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates. But the truth is that a lot of farms, ranches and small businesses will be absolutely devastated by this change in the tax law. There are many farmers and ranchers out there today that do not make much money but are sitting on tracts of land that are worth millions of dollars. According to the American Farm Bureau, approximately 97 percent of all farms and ranches in the United States would be subject to the estate tax if the exemption was reduced to just a million dollars. That means that the children of these farmers and ranchers would be faced with a very cruel choice when it is time to inherit these farms and ranches. Either they come up with enough money to pay the government about half of what the farm or ranch is worth, or they sell the farm or ranch that may have been in their family for generations. Needless to say, most farm and ranch families do not have that kind of cash lying around. Most of them are just barely making it from year to year. So this change in the tax law is going to greatly accelerate the death of the family farm in America. This is also going to devastate many family-owned small businesses. Many small businesses don’t make much money, but they have buildings or land or assets worth millions of dollars. Children that may have wanted to continue the family legacy will be forced to sell because of the massive tax bill that they get from Uncle Sam. This is an insidious cruelty, and it shows just how broken our system has become.
Obama To Demand $1.6 Trillion In Tax Hikes Over Ten Years, Double Previously Expected
We told you so:
“Deficits mean future tax increases, pure and simple. Deficit spending should be viewed as a tax on future generations, and politicians who create deficits should be exposed as tax hikers.”
– Ron Paul“When a country embarks on deficit financing and inflationism you wipe out the middle class and wealth is transferred from the middle class and the poor to the rich.”
– Ron Paul“Believe me, the next step is a currency crisis because there will be a rejection of the dollar, the rejection of the dollar is a big, big event, and then your personal liberties are going to be severely threatened.”
– Ron Paul
(And NO, I do not think that elite puppet Romney would have been a better choice than elite puppet Obama.)
– Obama To Demand $1.6 Trillion In Tax Hikes Over Ten Years, Double Previously Expected (ZeroHedge, Nov 13, 2012):
If the Fiscal Cliff negotiations are supposed to result in a bipartisan compromise, it is safe that the initial shots fired so far are about as extreme as can possibly be. As per our previous assessment of the status quo, with the GOP firmly against any tax hike, many were expecting the first olive branch to come from the generous victor – Barack Obama. Yet on the contrary, the WSJ reports, Obama’s gambit will be to ask for double what the preliminary negotiations from the “debt deficit” summer of 2011 indicated would be the Democrats demand for tax revenue increase. To wit: “President Barack Obama will begin budget negotiations with congressional leaders Friday by calling for $1.6 trillion in additional tax revenue over the next decade, far more than Republicans are likely to accept and double the $800 billion discussed in talks with GOP leaders during the summer of 2011. Mr. Obama, in a meeting Tuesday with union leaders and other liberal activists, also pledged to hang tough in seeking tax increases on wealthy Americans.” Granted, there was a tiny conciliation loophole still open, after he made no specific commitment to leave unscathed domestic programs such as Medicare, yet this is one program that the GOP will likely not find much solace in cutting. In other words, all the preliminary talk of one party being open to this or that, was, naturally, just that, with a whole lot of theatrics, politics and teleprompting thrown into the mix. The one hope is that the initial demands are so ludicrous on both sides, that some leeway may be seen as a victory by a given party’s constituents. Yet that is unlikely: as we have noted on many occasions in the past, any compromise will result in swift condemnation in a congress that has never been as more polarized in history.
From the WSJ:
Kevin Smith, a spokesman for House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio), dismissed the president’s opening position for the negotiations. He said Mr. Boehner’s proposal to revamp the tax code and entitlement programs is “consistent with the president’s call for a ‘balanced’ approach.”
Read moreObama To Demand $1.6 Trillion In Tax Hikes Over Ten Years, Double Previously Expected
AND NOW: France Invades Switzerland!
– Flash News – France Invades Switzerland! (ZeroHedge, Nov 11, 2012):
There are some interesting implications behind a story that is out this weekend. I found the details (that have come out so far) of interest.
The IRS of France, the National Directorate Of Tax Investigations (DNEF), has covertly sent agents into Switzerland to pursue tax evasion cases against French citizens. The Agents entered Switzerland claiming they were tourists. The Agents were not sightseeing in the Alps. They were doing what spies always do. They were covertly gathering information on enemies of France. In this case, the “enemies” are French citizens.
To be clear. This is 100% illegal activity in Switzerland.
Banking secrecy is still the law of the land in Switzerland. There have been several cases in the past few years where a Swiss bank employee has stolen information on private accounts. The lists of “names” were later sold to tax authorities in the US and Germany. Switzerland has vigorously prosecuted the individuals involved. Several have gone to jail; others are pending extradition and trial.
And now French government agents are breaking the same Swiss laws. The following thoughts come to my mind about this affair:
– How desperate are the French to do this? A covert operation in a foreign country? That’s over the top. If the French tax spies are doing this, what are the other arms of government doing? Are they spying as well? Listening in on phone calls to find out if the waiters are claiming their tips? How are the French going to react? Some, do doubt, with glee. Others, justifiably, with fear.
Greece: Journalist Who Published Tax Evasion List Of Political & Business Elite Arrested, Faces Trial (Video)
YouTube Added: 29.10.2012
Desription:
The Greek government is now being accused of failing to go after tax dodgers. A journalist who published a list of the country’s political and business elite who have Swiss bank accounts now faces a trial after being arrested. For more on the story RT’s joined by George Katroungalos, attorney and professor of constitutional law.
Pennsylvania May Force Workers To Pay Taxes To Their Employers
– Pennsylvania may force workers to pay taxes to their employers (The Raw Story, Oct 24, 2012):
A bill that landed on Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett’s (R) desk this week would give companies that hire more than 250 new workers a gobsmacking tax incentive: 95 percent of those workers’ state income taxes would be paid to the employer, and not the state.
It’s a bizarre strategy meant to attract companies from other states, specifically designed to lure California-based software maker Oracle into Pennsylvania. It’s also, as Philadelphia City Paper put it, “lavish corporate welfare” writ large across state government.
The bill, HB 2626, passed on October 17 with bipartisan support. Just 80 members of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives, most of the Democrats, voted in opposition.
Employers that hope to take advantage of the incentive program must hire 250 or more new full time employees and provide health insurance for them, in addition to paying a wage that’s above the county average wherever they’re located. Once those conditions are met, the proposed law would allow companies to absorb as much as $5 million of their employees’ income taxes every year.
Read morePennsylvania May Force Workers To Pay Taxes To Their Employers
The Gray Economy: Europe’s €1.5 Trillion A Year Black Hole
– The Gray Economy: Europe’s €1.5 Trillion A Year Black Hole (ZeroHedge, Oct 23, 2012)
U.S. Budget Dilemma (Video)
YouTube Added: 14.03.2012
Description:
ALARMING! Washington’s Dilemma!
Soaring debt and a budget Congress can’t balance.This VIDEO explains WHY.
Every person in AMERICA should watch this video!
The taxman cometh: Hollande sets France’s ‘toughest budget in 30 years’
– The taxman cometh: Hollande sets France’s ‘toughest budget in 30 years’ (RT, Sep 27, 2012):
The French cabinet recently approved its “toughest budget in 30 years.” The budget is a major political test for President Francois Hollande, who is resorting to a 75% tax rate on the rich combined with spending cuts to shore up budget deficits. France needs to make an estimated 30 billion euro in savings in its next fiscal year to reach Hollande’s ambitious target of reducing the country’s deficit from 4.5 per cent in 2012 to three per cent by 2013. The three percent figure is the EU’s mandated deficit ceiling for member-states.
Paul Ryan’s Latest Whopper: Oops, I ‘Overlooked’ 20% Of My Income
–Ryan’s latest whopper: Oops, I ‘overlooked’ 20% of my income (Updated) (Daily Kos, Sep 22, 2012):
From the NYT article on Romney’s newest tax info release:
In an amended return also released Friday, Representative Paul D. Ryan, Mr. Romney’s running mate, disclosed that he and his wife had initially failed to report $61,122 in income from 2011. He said the failure was inadvertent. The change raised their total income to $323,416 and increased their taxes by $19,917 to $64,674, or 20 percent of adjusted gross income.They owed a penalty of $59 for the original underpayment. The Ryans explained that they had overlooked their income from the Prudence Little Living Trust. Mrs. Little, who died in 2010, was Mrs. Ryan’s mother.
Yup. I overlooked that $60K, almost 20% of my income. $60K here, $60K there, how am I supposed to keep track of it? Who can remember every penny? Besides it came from some obscure source I’d never remember … what was it again? … oh yeah, your Mom’s trust.Or maybe, just maybe, what I overlooked was the fact that I would be the vice-presidential candidate and wouldn’t be able to count on the trust income going unnoticed and unreported.
Sorry, no time for questions, got to run another sub-3-hour marathon.
Read morePaul Ryan’s Latest Whopper: Oops, I ‘Overlooked’ 20% Of My Income
Jailed UBS Employee Gets $104 Million From IRS For Exposing Swiss Bank Account Holders
– Jailed UBS Employee Gets $104 Million From IRS For Exposing Swiss Bank Account Holders (ZeroHedge, Sep 11, 2012):
Just in case there wasn’t enough excitement and fury directed at Swiss bank account holders, which continue to dominate the presidential election “debate” above such mundane topics as the economy, or, say, reality, here comes the IRS, which as we noted yesterday collected $192 billion less than the government spent in the month of August alone, and have awarded Bradely Birkenfeld, a former UBS employee who in 2008 pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States and was sentenced in 2009 to 40 months in prison, but received preferential whistleblower status after a prior arrangement to expose numerous Americans with Swiss bank accounts, has just been awarded $104 million.
From Reuters:
U.S. tax authorities have awarded $104 million to a whistleblower in a major tax fraud case against Swiss bank UBS AG that widened a government crackdown on Americans avoiding taxes in Switzerland, his lawyers said on Tuesday.
Bradley Birkenfeld, freed last month from prison, was not present at the news conference where his attorneys announced the reward made under an Internal Revenue Service whistleblower program that has come in for some criticism in Congress.
Birkenfeld had sought a large payout for his role in a tax-dodging case that resulted in early 2009 in UBS entering into a deferred prosecution agreement and paying $780 million in fines, penalties, interest and restitution.
Some more on the Birkenfeld pro- then anti-tax evasion odyssey:
Read moreJailed UBS Employee Gets $104 Million From IRS For Exposing Swiss Bank Account Holders
Bilderberg Hollande Defends 75% Tax Rate To A Disillusioned France
Flashback:
– Francois Hollande Is Another Bilderberg Stooge (Video)
– Embattled Hollande defends his 75% tax rate to a disillusioned France (Daily Mail, Sep 9, 2012):
Francois Hollande last night tried to justify his plans for multi-billion-pound tax rises to an increasingly disillusioned France.
The Socialist president, whose popularity has slumped, appeared on live television to convince the public his policies could help turn the country’s economy around.
During the 25-minute appearance, he unveiled plans for tax increases of ‘between 15 to 20 billion euros’ (£12billion to £16billion), targeting wealthy households, savings and firms.
The money raised will be used for public services, including thousands of new civil servant jobs.
He confirmed that ‘all earnings over one million euros will be taxed at 75 per cent’, adding: ‘It’s symbolic, it will show an example.’
Read moreBilderberg Hollande Defends 75% Tax Rate To A Disillusioned France
Judge Napolitano On The 2012 Election, Obamacare, And The Future Of Liberty (Video)
Description:
“Those of us who really yearn for a return to first principles, the natural law, the Constitution, a government that only has powers that we have consented it may have… are frustrated by the choice between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney,” says Judge Andrew Napolitano, author of the upcoming book “Theodore and Woodrow: How Two American Presidents Destroyed Your Constitutional Freedoms,” Fox Business contributor, and former host of “Freedom Watch.”