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21 Oct 2010 15:26

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Biz: Based on their accounting, Google has a new mantra: “Don’t Pay Taxes”

  • 35% the current corporate tax rate in the United States
  • 2.4% the amount Google pays, thanks to fancy accounting source
  • » How do they do it? Well, the search giant uses income-shifting methods referred to by lawyers as the “Double Irish” and the “Dutch Sandwich,” which sound like endlessly fascinating names for avoiding taxes. It involves a lot of money-shifting between various countries – Ireland, Bermuda, The Netherlands. But the end result saved Google $3.1 billion in taxes in the last three years, which probably helps them afford investing in self-driving cars and stuff.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

22 Sep 2010 18:25

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U.S.: California city lacks any oversight whatsoever

  • $56 million a year in illegal taxation in one city source
  • » According to an audit by State Controller John Chiang, the City Council of Bell, CA approved millions of dollars in fraudulent taxation in 2007, mostly for the benefit of former City Administrator Robert Rizzo. The charges include $93,000 to pay off Rizzo’s personal debts, $10 million to one of Rizzo’s business partners, and $1 million in pay raises for Rizzo and his assistant. The taxes were raised without voter approval and lacking any substantive debate on the part of the city council, Chiang says. The best part? The audit isn’t even done yet!
Posted by Seth Millstein • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Sep 2010 21:44

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Biz: Most businesses wouldn’t get nicked by Bush tax-cut reversal

  • 3% of all businesses would be affected by rescinding the high-end of the Bush tax cuts
  • 8% of non-hobby businesses would be affected, say conservative groups
  • 750k the real number of businesses that would roughly be affected by the cuts source
  • » And a possibly positive side-effect: Studies have shown that increases in tax rates at the top end can lead to more small businesses starting up because of the tax breaks offered, boosting overall growth anyway.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Sep 2010 16:26

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Politics: Breaking: Republicans aren’t as fiscally responsible as they claim

  • $3.9 trillion cost of extending all of the Bush tax cuts source
  • » And that’s not even including an additional $950 billion in interest payments. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who supports extending all of the cuts, says we can offset this massive increase in the deficit by instituting a $300 billion spending freeze. This would pay for about 6% of the cost, which is sort of like if I take your iPhone and offer you a DVD of “Corky Romano” in exchange.
Posted by Seth Millstein • 3 Comments • Permalink

31 Aug 2010 09:27

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Culture: Paul “Crocodile Dundee” Hogan stuck in Australia with his taxes

  • If I’m a tax evader, which I’m not, I must be the dumbest one in the world because they gave me five years notice that they have seized every piece of paper that my tax advisors and lawyers and accountants have ever had. I kept coming back here.
  • Paul “You Call That a Knife” Hogan • On being stuck in the country that made him famous due to insane tax issues. See, Hogan can’t afford to pay even 10 percent of them due to his status as a washed-up movie star. But now he’s stuck in Australia after they forced him to stay in the country after he returned for his mother’s funeral. Hogan, 70, hasn’t worked much in the last few years. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 2 Comments • Permalink

06 Aug 2010 15:14

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U.S.: Want to rob somebody? Do it in lovely Colorado Springs

There’s apparently a 23 percent chance that the penny-pinching city’s cops are all busy. There’s a 100 percent chance that we just took your wallet. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

09 Jun 2010 10:43

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U.S.: Rich bastards who die this year won’t have to pay the estate tax

See this dude? He died recently. And as a result of an accounting quirk by the government, his family won’t have to pay huge taxes on his $9 billion estate. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

21 May 2010 20:42

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Politics: “The War is Making You Poor Act”; Alan Grayson good with names

  • Let’s face it; this bill has about as much a chance of passing as anything Dennis Kucinich has submitted in the last fifteen years, but it’s pretty brilliant in its conceit; take the extra money for the Iran and Afghan wars and give most of it it to the taxpayers, and use the rest to pay off the federal deficit and federal debt. It’s kind of a dream bill for the far left, especially given its name. However, much like everything Grayson has done in the last year and a half, it’s an attention grab. Well, it worked. Kucinich wishes he had this kind of attention. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Apr 2010 10:23

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Politics: Bizarro hippies on tax day: What legislators can we knock off?

  • We’d love to beat Nancy Pelosi in San Francisco but she’s too strong. We try to keep our focus on the doable.
  • Bizarro Hippie Express strategist Sal Russo • Regarding their plans to attempt to knock Democrats out of office this year. They have claimed some victories (sorta) in the form of the retirements of Chris Dodd and Bart Stupak (claims which are kinda questionable) and the party switch of Arlen Specter. The grassroots political movement is in D.C. today because it’s Tax Day and they want to make a big deal out of that day. Their best reason why should be this, but isn’t. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Apr 2010 21:45

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U.S.: Hey, America, you got a tax cut last year. Thanks for noticing

  • 12% of all Americans
    think taxes went
    down last year
  • 2% of bizarro hippies
    think people’s taxes
    went down
  • 95% of workers had their taxes go down
    last year source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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