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Posted on 05/10/2002 3:51:41 PM PDT by Action-America
Edited on 04/22/2004 12:33:25 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
So now Stanley Works wants to move to Bermuda. Fed up with spiraling taxes, the Connecticut toolmaker says it's had enough.
And a lot of people are coming down hard on old Stanley, including Connecticut's attorney general, who got the company to hold off for now, pending a legal challenge. He's mad at old Stanley.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
This story is only a symptom of the real underlying problem. However, the fact that it is being publicized at all is a big step in the right direction.
The fact is that many companies like Stanley are simply reincorporating offshore and leaving their US plants untouched. Many others either are planning to completely leave or already have. Furthermore, roughly 100,000 wealthy individuals leave the United States every year. All of this is because of the continued lust for power of our elected representatives and their vain attempts to control wealth that they did not earn, by passing ever more oppressive laws. But, history has demonstrated over and over again, in countries across the world, that the more oppressive the laws, the more wealth will leave the country. See "Tick-Tick-Tick - The Economy Bomb" for more on wealth flight.
As Cavuto points out, the real problem is Washington. Rather than vilify the companies that are only trying to protect themselves from government abuse, our legislators should be abolishing the laws that are causing this capital flight. In particular, it is time to abolish the Income Tax and IRS and replace them with a National Retail Sales Tax.
HUMONGOUS TAXREFORM BUMP FOR NEIL CAVUTO!!!
Hang in there Stanley (can I go to work for you in Bermuda?).
Now the real question is how will the high tax cities and states survive if most of the high taxpayers leave? With only smaller taxpayers or others who need governmental assistance left, how will high tax cost governments survive?
This is the real impact of a story such as Stanley ‘moving’ to Bermuda. As taxing authorities increase the tax effect on the remaining taxpayers, they also will look for methods to flee the high taxes. Then who will be left to pay for the expensive stadiums which governments have unwritten for ‘profit’ sport teams the welfare state, and all the other ‘free’ government programs?
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Unfortunately, American citizens unlike all other Western nationals (e.g., France, UK) cannot expatriate themselves to stop paying U.S. taxes.
Corporations though have carte blanche.
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Not me. I'll pray for Stanleys success in getting the heck out of here. Staying would be the stupid business move. They want high taxes and anti-capitalism, that's what they'll get.
We get taxed on, salary, ciggaretts, liquor, clothes, food, medicine, gasoline, water, electricity, telephone, cable, natural gas, boats, cars, tags, hunting, fishing, property, schools, car parts, tools, shampoo, razors, plants, trees, garden implements, take out food, restaurants, the internet, computers, computer equipment, hospital stays, emergency room visits, guns, ammo, sports equipment, pet food..sigh.
"Unfortunately, American citizens unlike all other Western nationals (e.g., France, UK) cannot expatriate themselves to stop paying U.S. taxes."
Actually, there is nothing stopping US Citizens from expatriating and getting away from punitive US taxes and the abusive IRS.
There were two laws enacted in 1996, in a vain attempt by the government, to stop or at least slow down expatriation of the wealthy. Those laws, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HEPA) and the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), have had the exact opposite effect (i.e. they failed miserably). HEPA claimed the right of the IRS to tax expatriates for 10 years after they renounced their US citizenship and took citizenship in another country. INA attempts to prevent wealthy expatriates from ever returning.
The wealthy saw those laws as direct attacks on them and as a result, in 1997, expatriation of the wealthy increased markedly. The only difference is that when those people left, instead of leaving a portion of their wealth in the United States where it would continue to fund US jobs and expansions and contribute to the tax base, they had to take ALL of their wealth with them, to keep it from being confiscated under HEPA.
One of my wealthy friends said that those laws blindsided him and he wasn't ready to leave right away, but he managed to get ALL of his money offshore by mid 1997 and just left. He never renounced. He just dropped out. When I asked him about the INA provisions, his answer spoke volumes. He asked, "Why would I even consider returning to a country that treated me like trash, just because I worked hard enough to make a lot of money?" I asked him about family in the United States. He told me that he brings his brother's and sister's families down to Belize twice a year and over to Ireland twice a year, on his nickel. The tax savings more than makes up for the family air fare. In 1997, that scenario was repeated about 50,000 times. Last year, it was repeated about 100,000 times.
If you have not already read it, you really should read the article, "Tick-Tick-Tick - The Economy Bomb" for a detailed examination of this phenomena, its cause and effects.
"My question is what would the federalis do if Mircosoft and IBM moved off shore."
That's an interesting question. One of the public secrets that few people are aware of, is that Microsloth already contracts a lot of programming work to programmers in other countries. Just FYI.
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