Re:The Hidden Wealth of Nations: Tax Havens
by charlesdm on Friday October 02, 2015 @07:58AM
(#10317910)
Most wealthy people who acquire their wealth (i.e. not inherit) have contributed by paying a ton of tax during the acquisition of that wealth.
If it takes me five or ten years to build out a successful company, I will have paid:
- Some corporate tax
- Income tax (your director salary, your employees salaries)
- Dividend taxes
- Capital gains tax (when I sell the company)
- Various other smaller levies
And you will have created some jobs. When you sell the company, those jobs also usually won't seize to exist. In a way, you will have paid off your debt to society.
If at that point, should you decide to move to some low tax country and live off of investment gains, what's wrong with that? Given (for example) a massive amount of US taxpayers dollars is spent on military and defence spending, I find it hypocritical to call people who actually want to keep their earned wealth "heartless sociopaths".
If it takes me five or ten years to build out a successful company, I will have paid: - Some corporate tax - Income tax (your director salary, your employees salaries) - Dividend taxes - Capital gains tax (when I sell the company) - Various other smaller levies
And you will have created some jobs. When you sell the company, those jobs also usually won't seize to exist. In a way, you will have paid off your debt to society.
If at that point, should you decide to move to some low tax country and live off of investment gains, what's wrong with that? Given (for example) a massive amount of US taxpayers dollars is spent on military and defence spending, I find it hypocritical to call people who actually want to keep their earned wealth "heartless sociopaths".