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Thread: Avoiding high income taxes

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    God/dess Paris's Avatar
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    Default Avoiding high income taxes

    Okay, this is really easy. You don't even need to go out and buy a "For Dummies" book or anything. Ready for this amazing secret, this holiest of holy grails?

    When reaching an income level of $500,000/ year becomes a possibility in your life, take a vacation. Spend some time relaxing, or globe trotting or catching up on your leisure reading. Go to church, spend time with family, do those things that you keep putting off, take a cooking class, learn a new hobby, join the peace corps, start a small business, invent a better mouse trap.

    If you are already incredibly wealthy, you may consider philanthropy. If you are Bill Gates wealthy, you may consider adopting your own personal 3rd world nation.

    Basically, if you don't have the money, then no one can tax you on it!


    Promote yourself and earn more money! This is a business that is owned by strippers for strippers. Let's make that money!


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    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Avoiding high income taxes

    ^^^ actually, that's not really true. Even if pre-tax money has already been spent, the IRS can attach and liquidate physical assets to satisfy unpaid tax debts. You can't dispose of tax debts through bankruptcy either.

    There are only two effective ways for 'rich' Americans to avoid high US taxes. The first is to hold money out of the country such that the IRS is unaware of / unable to prove your income. The second, and soon to become extremely popular option, is to invest in tax free treasury / muni bonds that the gov't needs to sell in order to finance stimulus spending. Bill Gates has earned many extra millions of dollars by holding Microsoft profits within Irish sub-corporations which are free of US corporate taxes ! There is a third option, but it involves 'rich' Americans giving up their US citizenship / residence.

    However, you are semi-correct in principle. Indeed, when tax rates on the 'rich' are increased to onerous levels, the 'rich' indeed have a strong incentive to work fewer hours, take fewer entrepreneurial risks etc. since at the margin the majority of their additional earnings will be lost to taxes. But this of course also results in a major reduction in tax revenues flowing into the gov't. And if the gov't fails to cut spending for social welfare benefits, for civil service employment etc. those lost tax revenues must in turn be made up by imposing higher taxes on the 'middle class' !

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    Default Re: Avoiding high income taxes

    ^^^ I always love reading your posts!

    The U.S. will always find a way to get their "share".
    Don't you ever sleep?
    Not at night...that's when the stars have rather better things to do. They're coming out, shining, that sort of thing.
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    Veteran Member StuartL's Avatar
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    Default Re: Avoiding high income taxes

    You could move to a low tax nation...

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    Default Re: Avoiding high income taxes

    america is fairly low tax relative to the infrastructure one receives...

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    Default Re: Avoiding high income taxes

    ^^^ forgive me for generalizing, but many states such as my (former) home state of New York in fact now have a combined federal + state + local tax rate which approaches european levels. However, the New York infrastructure in terms of everything from roads and bridges to the power system to to 'public' health care availability to public transit to the City University of NY fall far short of their Western European infrastructure equivalents.

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    Default Re: Avoiding high income taxes

    Quote Originally Posted by StuartL View Post
    You could move to a low tax nation...
    Nope, we tax citizens regardless of where they are at in the world. If you want to take advantage of a low tax nation, you will have to give up american citizenship.
    Quote Originally Posted by The Snark View Post
    But then I suppose the sort of people who write this kind of crap generally don't allow their opinions to be tainted by things like "facts" and "reality".
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    Veteran Member StuartL's Avatar
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    Default Re: Avoiding high income taxes

    ^^^ I know, but you get that $80,000 exemption. That is a nice start. In most of the world, that would be a very acceptable standard of living - for now!

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    Default Re: Avoiding high income taxes

    ^^^ the IRS foreign income exclusion is up to $91,000 for 2009 !!! Trust me I checked ! And in certain central American countries that do not impose capital gains or income taxes of their own on money earned outside of their own country, one can live like a queen on $91,000 US dollars per year !

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    Veteran Member StuartL's Avatar
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    Default Re: Avoiding high income taxes

    ^^^ A queen? That is reassuring to hear.

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    Banned Melonie's Avatar
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    Default Re: Avoiding high income taxes

    ^^^ well there are queens, and there are 'queens' LOL !

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    Default Re: Avoiding high income taxes

    Paying taxes is an honour and a privelege.

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    Default Re: Avoiding high income taxes

    Quote Originally Posted by hockeybobby View Post
    Paying taxes is an honour and a privelege.
    Taxes are the price we pay for living in a free society. It says so right over the door of the Internal Revenue Service Building in Washington DC, so it must be true.

    XOXO
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