Some of you raise voices that tax evasion is evil, unfair or whatsoever. But it is merely playing the rules, only better than an average-man. In my consideration the term "tax evasion" is only a negatively biased way of calling tax minimization - what is what any sane person does.
You shouldn't blame companies for using loopholes in the tax system - if anything you should learn from them. Yes - probably most of the loopholes were created due to some unfair lobbying, but why would you blame Google for loopholes created by some mischievous Australian companies and rouge Australian politicians?
And did you ever considered the fairness of different forms of taxation and its effects on economy? Did you take time to think which form of taxation does the least damage?
Income tax and value added tax for instance highly demote being productive and make the exchange of services less profitable for individuals (companies aren't affected by this due to being able to deduce their expenses from being taxed).
Probably the least unfair and destructive (which means it is still evil but the least evil option) is the property tax (i.e. land tax or ad valorem tax) as it doesn't hinder productivity and it reflects what government really is - in this case a tenant to all the companies and people living on the territory of the country it governs.
People tend to fear this tax, because it frightens them to pay tax just for having something (land, real estate, money) but they forget that in reality in most regimes they are only granted this possessions by the government, and it always has the power to take those possessions away, so they don't really own them.
They also forget (or don't know) how much do they pay in taxes which is in reality between 40% and 90% of income in most countries (taking in consideration all of paid taxes - income tax, value added tax, inflation,...). They also forget that this tax target mostly those who poses the most wealth - the rich, not the poor (which is exactly opposite to the other taxes).
To sum up - don't blame the player - blame the game.;)
Slashdot Mirror
Some of you raise voices that tax evasion is evil, unfair or whatsoever. But it is merely playing the rules, only better than an average-man. In my consideration the term "tax evasion" is only a negatively biased way of calling tax minimization - what is what any sane person does. You shouldn't blame companies for using loopholes in the tax system - if anything you should learn from them. Yes - probably most of the loopholes were created due to some unfair lobbying, but why would you blame Google for loopholes created by some mischievous Australian companies and rouge Australian politicians? And did you ever considered the fairness of different forms of taxation and its effects on economy? Did you take time to think which form of taxation does the least damage? Income tax and value added tax for instance highly demote being productive and make the exchange of services less profitable for individuals (companies aren't affected by this due to being able to deduce their expenses from being taxed). Probably the least unfair and destructive (which means it is still evil but the least evil option) is the property tax (i.e. land tax or ad valorem tax) as it doesn't hinder productivity and it reflects what government really is - in this case a tenant to all the companies and people living on the territory of the country it governs. People tend to fear this tax, because it frightens them to pay tax just for having something (land, real estate, money) but they forget that in reality in most regimes they are only granted this possessions by the government, and it always has the power to take those possessions away, so they don't really own them. They also forget (or don't know) how much do they pay in taxes which is in reality between 40% and 90% of income in most countries (taking in consideration all of paid taxes - income tax, value added tax, inflation, ...). They also forget that this tax target mostly those who poses the most wealth - the rich, not the poor (which is exactly opposite to the other taxes).
To sum up - don't blame the player - blame the game. ;)