In recent days, the fact that Mitt Romney has millions of dollars parked down in the Cayman Islands has made headlines all over the world. But when it comes to offshore banking, what Mitt Romney is doing is small potatoes. The truth is that the global elite are hiding an almost unbelievable amount of money in offshore banks. According to shocking research done by the IMF, the global elite are holding a total of 18 trillion dollars in offshore banks. And that figure does not even count any money being held in Switzerland. That is a staggering amount of money. Keep in mind that U.S. GDP in 2010 was only 14.58 trillion dollars. So why do the global elite go to such trouble to hide their money in offshore banks? Well, there are two main reasons. One is privacy and the other is low taxation. Privacy is a big issue for those that are involved in illegal enterprises such as drug running, but the biggest reason why people move money into offshore banks is in order to avoid taxes. Some set up bank accounts in foreign nations because they want to legally minimize their taxes and others set up bank accounts in foreign nations because they want to illegally avoid taxes. You would be absolutely amazed at what some large corporations and wealthy individuals do to get out of paying taxes. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the rest of us don't have the resources or the knowledge to play these games, so we get taxed into oblivion.So why do they call it "offshore banking"?Well, the term originally developed because the banks on the Channel Islands were "offshore" from the United Kingdom. Most "offshore banks" are still located on islands today. The Cayman Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the Isle of Man are examples of this. Other "offshore banking centers" such as Monaco are actually not "offshore" at all, but the term applies to them anyway.Traditionally, these offshore banking centers have been very attractive to both criminals and to the global elite because they would not tell anyone (including governments) about the money that anyone had parked there.These days some governments (particularly the U.S. government) are trying to change this, but we certainly will not see the end of offshore banking any time soon.The amount of money that goes through these offshore banks is absolutely astounding.It has been estimated that 80 percent of all international banking transactions take place through these offshore banks. $1.4 trillion is being held in offshore banks in the Cayman Islands alone.One article in the Guardian estimated that a third of all the wealth on the entire globe is being held in offshore banks, and others believe that as much as half of all the capital in the world flows through offshore banks at some point.Obviously, all of this tax avoidance means that governments around the world are missing out on a whole lot of money.It has been estimated that the U.S. government is missing out on $100 billion a year because of these offshore banks. Others would put that figure significantly higher.Avoiding taxes is a game that the global elite have mastered. They are playing a whole different ballgame than you and I are. They don't just sit there like idiots and get blasted with taxes. Instead, they hire the best experts and they employ every trick in the book to hold on to as much money as they possibly can.These days, taking advantage of offshore tax havens is not that complicated to do. The following is from a recent Politico article....
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So what does the government do to make up for that defucit? Raise taxes on the middle class. UnrealComment -
It's THEIR money. Unreal.
We are entering a time where the government is control of everything. You reckon this is what the founding fathers had in mind? We should just rewrite the constitution to say; We the Central Government...Comment -
Yes its their money but tuey still have to pay taxes in it. Thats the law. Its even in the fukkn bible john. Its placing a huge burden on all tax payers to bridge that gap.
With that said, wish I had an offshore account. John give me some info and ill float you 1k for your troubles.Comment -
Majority of THEIR money hidden offshore was earned illegally either via shady business deals or criminal activities. Almost none of it on the books nor paid any taxes on the money earned. If the average citizen tried hiding income they'd be up to their eyeballs in attorney fees and IRS penalties.Comment -
I don't believe that to be true. I'd say nearly all of it was legally earned and taxed. No matter where you put money be it your mattress or converted to gold and buried in your back yard you still owe the tax. Many wealthy people have business interests including investments all over the world.
Is converting your money to gold and hiding it in your back yard illegal? Is it any different than banking it outside of the US?
Bottomline is it is illegal not to pay the taxes you owe. Has nothing to do with where you put your money. Or maybe we need to assume everyone who buys gold is a criminal trying to escape taxes???Comment -
do you really believe our government controls everything? who has control of our government? have you ever thought about that? everything is manipulated by the big banks, the phamas, the oil industry, the lobbyist, etc. etc... the system is skewed so that the rich stay rich. i know it's their money but when inflation hurts the middle class and the poor while it helps the rich, we're not playing on an even field. when the income is less than or equal to what people have been making in the 90's for most and everything costs double what it used to be there's a problem here. if you don't see the problem then you have a problem...
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it should be illegal. when you keep printing the dollar from thin air so the value of the dollar goes down but the assets the rich possess go up, this is called the elites manipulating the economy. basically it's like fixing a game. they can't lose and that's a fuckin crime!!!!Comment -
You cannot beat the richComment -
pauly, remember that the 'global elite' includes the largest corporations like Apple, GE, etc. who hold 75% of their cash offshore so as to avoid repatriation and the federal 35% tax that comes with it.
this game has been played for the past 30+ years and only takes a pause when the irs allows a brief period of tax-free repatriation. all these large corp's currently have their cronies busy at work lobbying for the next one, stay tuned..Comment -
Like Bain, and Romney's 2011 tax returns, this is a non issue come voting time in November.
Smear campaign tactics don't win elections.
Read something interesting today, if you go the official DNC website, there a more Romney attacks posted than Obama accomplishments.
The last Obama accomplishment posted was when his health care bill was upheld last month.
Read something else interesting today, Romney's five point lead over Obama now is exactly the same as Obama's five point lead over McCain exactly four year ago to the day.
It's Romney's election to lose now, keep slinging the mud Obama, it's not sticking, like I said, Americans really don't care when Romney left Bain.Comment -
we need to send our military to these little islands and bomb the shit out of switzerland too unless they give it up
/not trolling
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clueless... you know who becomes the president's cabinet members? do you really think the president actually has a choice? all the cabinet members have ties to the banks, pharmas, oil companies, etc, etc... and this isn't by mistake. it doesn't matter who's the president, the cabinet members will always have ties. do you think this is by mistake or chance? keep thinking there is change...Comment -
Hence the reasoning that business will pick up and leave if we higher the tax rate is absolutely flawed.
You can place a 100% tax on the wealthiest people in this country, and I bet they find a way to lower their liability to a number lower than that being taken out of every middle class workers paycheck. (percentage wise).
Repubs, try finding another line of reasoning on not raising taxes - there are many more.Comment -
<h2 style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-align: center; ">Who Pays Income Taxes and How Much?</h2>Tax Year 2009Percentiles Ranked by AGIAGI Threshold on PercentilesPercentage of Federal Personal Income Tax PaidTop 1%$343,92736.73Top 5%$154,64358.66Top 10%$112,12470.47Top 25%$66,19387.30Top 50%$32,39697.75Bottom 50%<$32,3962.25Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service
Tax Year 2008Percentiles Ranked by AGIAGI Threshold on PercentilesPercentage of Federal Personal Income Tax PaidTop 1%$380,35438.02Top 5%$159,61958.72Top 10%$113,79969.94Top 25%$67,28086.34Top 50%$33,04897.30Bottom 50%<$33,0482.7Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service
Tax Year 2007Percentiles Ranked by AGIAGI Threshold on PercentilesPercentage of Federal Personal Income Tax PaidTop 1%$410,09640.42Top 5%$160,04160.63Top 10%$113,01871.22Top 25%$66,53286.59Top 50%$32,87997.11Bottom 50%<$32,8792.89Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service
Tax Year 2006Percentiles Ranked by AGIAGI Threshold on PercentilesPercentage of Federal Personal Income Tax PaidTop 1%$388,80639.89Top 5%$153,54260.14Top 10%$108,90470.79Top 25%$64,70286.27Top 50%$31,98797.01Bottom 50%<$31,9872.99Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service
For Tax Year 2005Percentiles Ranked by AGIAGI Threshold on PercentilesPercentage of Federal Personal Income Tax PaidTop 1%$364,65739.38Top 5%$145,28359.67Top 10%$103,91270.30Top 25%$62,06885.99Top 50%$30,88196.93Bottom 50%<$30,8813.07Note: AGI is Adjusted Gross Income
Source: Internal Revenue Service
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if you ask americans that have lived for awhile excluding wall street and financiers when was the united states the most prosperous? they will tell you the '50s. 50s was the golden age of capitalism, it's due to the least amount of income inequality. to all those that think the way we are headed is perfectly copacetic, you are in for a big surprise.
most of you are intelligent enough to read graphs so i won't explain what this means...
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The top 5% pays 60% of income taxes and people want more. Put your hand back in your pocket and be glad you live in America you little bitches.Comment -
if you ask americans that have lived for awhile excluding wall street and financiers when was the united states the most prosperous? they will tell you the '50s. 50s was the golden age of capitalism, it's due to the least amount of income inequality. to all those that think the way we are headed is perfectly copacetic, you are in for a big surprise.
most of you are intelligent enough to read graphs so i won't explain what this means...
My father sat down with me one night and told me the very same thing.
In the 50's inflation and the unemployment rate was non existent.
Standard of living was off the charts high.
Employed women rose almost 20 percent.
There were two cars in most garages, affordable interest rates on mortgages.Comment -
the clueless bring up the % the top earners paying taxes. let me put things into perspective so that the poor like yourself will understand. 0.1% which is roughly 15,000 people in the us made $700,000,000,000 last year. if i made that much i wouldn't mind paying 60% of my income. wake up and smell your dentures. you aren't one of them, it's not all about how much % one pays in taxes.
when it comes down to it us, the middle class, are willing to pay more taxes but we want the income to be distributed fairly and equally. the rules right now do not favor the middle class period!Comment -
two words. sales tax.Comment -
The 50's was boomi g because of industry and te fact the war was over. Rebuilding Europe brought great coin state side. You can't compare 1950's to today. Apples and bowling balls.
Today because of greed, millions of jobs are shipped over seas to generate massive amounts of profit for big business. They pay a chinamen 50 cents an hour to do something an American would raise his nose at for 15 an hour. This is why the rich continue to prosper and the rest eat ramen noodles and hot and ready Caesars pizzas. Not rocket science.Comment -
The reason jobs have been outsourced from the U.S. is very simple. The U.S. has the largest corporate income tax in the world, we have some of the most excessive taxation on earth, our laws are unfair and unpredictable, we have too many government fees and mandates, and low skilled labor in the U.S. is too expensive. The corporate tax rate in the U.S. is 39.5%, while China has a rate of 25%. Nations across the world have been slashing their corporate tax rates; some of these nations include Japan, Germany, and South Korea. China doesn’t even have a capital gains tax and their labor is much cheaper. The U.S. tax code is overly complicated and unattractive to businesses, but 20 other nations (like Russia) have simplified their tax codes by issuing one paged flat rate taxes.Comment -
Real simple make business taxes the lowest in the world. Make capital gains tax at 10%...lower property taxes 35%....delete Obamacare!Comment -
Unreal. SBR elitists defend those who hide money off shore to hide from taxes but attack those who don't pay enough. .Hypocrisy at its dumbestComment -
39% highest Federal tax rate, 10% highest state rate in most places, add in sales tax, property tax, etc and those people are paying 60% of their income in tax. We don't have a revenue problem in the US. We have an expenditure problem. Even if the top 25% was taxed at 100% we would still not have enough money to cover the current deficit. The problem is people are fukking jealous because they see these people on private planes and living in huge mansions. Guess what they fukking earned it (or some relative did) and last time I checked this is the land of the free and you can too. Life isn't fair, there are the haves and the have nots. Not everyone can be a billionaire and not everyone can be Mike Trout.Comment -
The same can be said for the inverse. How bad have the poor fukked the working man in this country. The lowlife pieces of shit dropouts and the illegal (cash wage earners) are ******* us so much harder than some rich people sending money offshore. How about we attack all of the pieces of shit uneducated coksuckers that bought homes with no money down and walked away from their mortgage because they can't comprehend simple mathematics. They are the ones that created this housing crisis and kick started this depression. So who is really to blame the rich, who are barely keeping this country afloat or the poor who continually suck this country dry because they can't help but stick their hands further out everyday.Comment -
Its very clear...our current policies...the rich make many jobs in the private sector. You make it tough for them, then they say fuk you! The GOV job are temp jobs and mostly useless and over paid. Never-mind the rich, what about Obama and what is he doing to improve things besides campaigning with 98% negative ads?Comment -
FBI/IRS could trace these funds down in no time at all except for the fact it would implicate too many people in positions of power in wider society...
Welcome to the world of corrupt Capitalism...Comment -
Indeed Tony Soprano!Comment
