Fred's Boys Let Him Down

[59 Dano]

Dano is an IDS (Ignorance Dispersal Specialist) in MEM. It pays $80,000 per year and you get a corner cubicle with your name on it.

My wife is the VP of finance of her place of employment and deals with these kinds of things on a daily basis; my background is similar to hers.

 

[59 Dano]

Apples and oranges. And I'm talking about corporations stepping up, help the country that makes it possible for their fat bottom line. Not talking about forcing anyone. Take GE, over 5 billion in profit in 2010 if I remember right, 0.0 in federal taxes. Not a dime. Look at the oil companies. Mega billions in profit thanks to the average America getting reamed at the pump. Step up, save the country. They were part of the problem, be part of the solution.

The spending that caused these problems originated in Congress and were signed by various presidents. I'm not sure how it became corporate America's responsibility to clean up the mess. I don't know how they could clean up the mess by forking over half of their profits (as you suggested) and screwing their own stockholders and employees.

 

[vantexan]

The spending that caused these problems originated in Congress and were signed by various presidents. I'm not sure how it became corporate America's responsibility to clean up the mess. I don't know how they could clean up the mess by forking over half of their profits (as you suggested) and screwing their own stockholders and employees.

Much of this mess started with corporations seeking to increase profits by outsourcing solid jobs to sweatshops overseas manned by 50 cent an hour workers. OK, the guys who build car engines in Saltillo, Mexico make about $7hr. Alot of blame to go around but you can't have the viable economy that creates good paying jobs if said economy is 80% service industries. Essentially what we have now are corporate exec's who do extremely well, a management class that does pretty well implementing the exec's directives, and a large underclass of wage slaves. This is what corporate America has evolved to with Congressmen in their hip pockets. So yes, corporations bear quite a bit of responsibility and instead of just showing short-sighted greed they ought to step up and do what's best for everyone. It doesn't matter much if they hang on to their profits if the whole system is falling down around them.

 

[vantexan]

My wife is the VP of finance of her place of employment and deals with these kinds of things on a daily basis; my background is similar to hers.

Well then surely you know that individual income earned overseas above the personal exemption is taxable whether you import it or not? As a matter of fact if you leave it in an account overseas without reporting it on a return and paying applicable taxes you are guilty of tax evasion.

 

[59 Dano]

You mean corporate taxes, not individual taxes, right? How about all the corporations, and this includes most of them, who set up sham offices overseas for the express purpose of beating the IRS?

What's the difference between you n' me itemizing (or even taking the standard deduction) and those guys legally doing what they do?

 

[59 Dano]

Much of this mess started with corporations seeking to increase profits by outsourcing solid jobs to sweatshops overseas manned by 50 cent an hour workers. OK, the guys who build car engines in Saltillo, Mexico make about $7hr. Alot of blame to go around but you can't have the viable economy that creates good paying jobs if said economy is 80% service industries. Essentially what we have now are corporate exec's who do extremely well, a management class that does pretty well implementing the exec's directives, and a large underclass of wage slaves. This is what corporate America has evolved to with Congressmen in their hip pockets. So yes, corporations bear quite a bit of responsibility and instead of just showing short-sighted greed they ought to step up and do what's best for everyone. It doesn't matter much if they hang on to their profits if the whole system is falling down around them.

And if you can somehow show how all of that made Congress and various presidents spend more money, you're on to something.

 

[59 Dano]

Well then surely you know that individual income earned overseas above the personal exemption is taxable whether you import it or not? As a matter of fact if you leave it in an account overseas without reporting it on a return and paying applicable taxes you are guilty of tax evasion.

Most of what she does is at the corporate level as opposed to the personal. The issue on the personal level, as she has explained it, relies on various conditions (how long you're gone, if you plan to return at all, housing arrangements, etc.) to determine what domestic tax obligations you have, if any. I think it's a crock. If I move out of state and establish residency elsewhere for 8 months and then move back, my state doesn't require me to keep paying taxes while I'm moved away.

 

[vantexan]

Most of what she does is at the corporate level as opposed to the personal. The issue on the personal level, as she has explained it, relies on various conditions (how long you're gone, if you plan to return at all, housing arrangements, etc.) to determine what domestic tax obligations you have, if any. I think it's a crock. If I move out of state and establish residency elsewhere for 8 months and then move back, my state doesn't require me to keep paying taxes while I'm moved away.

Millionaires were renouncing their citizenship while buying a citizenship in various countries who were glad to sell them a passport. Congress finally closed that loophole, requiring American citizens wishing to relinquish their citizenship be liable for income taxes for a number of years. I think 10 but not certain. It takes a heck of alot of money to run our government and they will take as much as they can within the law.

 

[vantexan]

And if you can somehow show how all of that made Congress and various presidents spend more money, you're on to something.

Well sure. More and more poorly paid service workers. Less and less better paid factory workers. Factories closing down also had a ripple effect on their communities, causing many small businesses to go under. At the heart of the housing bubble were millions of mortgages taken out by people who couldn't afford them. Many couldn't even understand what they were getting into but large banks were pushing these loans(and the banks were pushed into this by Barney Frank and Chris Dodd, who had close relations with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Countrywide Mortgage. These mortgages were bundled and sold as securities, and Wall Street firms developed complicated derivative investments that few understood. As the bubble built this became a huge house of cards that finally fell. The TARP bailout was the first of huge payouts in an effort to prevent a banking collapse and to stimulate a flattened economy. And now we're sputtering along with corporations making excellent profits due to investment in technologies which allow them to shed payroll. But with millions out of work and many millions more underpaid service workers where exactly is the money going to come from to pay for all the things that people want? The only way I see out of this mess is to institute something like the Fair Tax that'll encourage not only the wealthy here but but abroad to invest here. That creates jobs and increases overall revenue to the government. Doing what some propose, taxing the rich to the hilt, might be satisfying but you can't bring in nearly enough to improve things and it doesn't improve our overall situation. But a good start would be corporations dedicated to improving the economy by hiring, do whatever it takes, act like the country is under attack and pull together, and either hire more, or work on the debt, or whatever they can come up with to improve the situation. And government needs to do whatever it takes to assist them and then get out of the way. Until something like this happens it's not business as usual and our future is in real jeopardy.

 

[vantexan]

And I should add that spending trillions on wars in places that have little hope to become American style democracies is a huge waste of life and treasure. We got Saddam, we got Osama, it's time to go home. I think we've made it clear that there are huge consequences for messing with us.

 

[59 Dano]

Except the first $90k or so an American citizen earns annually overseas is exempt from American taxes. We're one of only 2 countries that requires it's citizens to pay income tax while living outside the country. Thus if a pro tennis player moves to London, makes a million in prize money, is outside of the U.S. for 330 days, he's on the hook to the IRS for taxes on over $900k. If he's out of the U.S. for 329 days it's all taxable.But I digress. Step up corporate America. The people you exploit need you.

I didn't notice the 500 lb. gorilla in the room and your Google-Fu managed to miss it, but there's a dollar-for-dollar tax credit that you can use for income earned and taxed abroad while you're living abroad (under the same conditions that you raised in order to qualify for the exemption). The way it works is for ever dollar you pay to, say, Spain, in income taxes, you can deduct a buck from your US federal income tax liability. It prevents you from being taxed twice and is usually a much better deal using the income exemption because it can wipe out your federal tax liability and then some -- which you can carry forward and apply to future tax liabilities.

 

[MrFedEx]

I didn't notice the 500 lb. gorilla in the room and your Google-Fu managed to miss it, but there's a dollar-for-dollar tax credit that you can use for income earned and taxed abroad while you're living abroad (under the same conditions that you raised in order to qualify for the exemption). The way it works is for ever dollar you pay to, say, Spain, in income taxes, you can deduct a buck from your US federal income tax liability. It prevents you from being taxed twice and is usually a much better deal using the income exemption because it can wipe out your federal tax liability and then some -- which you can carry forward and apply to future tax liabilities.

And your degree in International Finance is from where? Memphoid University in Memphis? Great school.

 

[vantexan]

I didn't notice the 500 lb. gorilla in the room and your Google-Fu managed to miss it, but there's a dollar-for-dollar tax credit that you can use for income earned and taxed abroad while you're living which...

Love the implication that I ran and searched Google to get info to respond to you. As for the rest, they're called international tax treaties and your tax burden in various countries varies from very little or alot. You'll still be on the hook to Uncle Sam to file a return and justify every deduction. The U.S. in recent years has pressured countries that used to be impregnable like Switzerland to divulge U.S. account holder secrets. Getting tough out there for you millionaire wannabes. You need to realize that the market isn't sacred and screwing with people's lives to make a buck will blow up in your face sooner or later.