Quote:
Originally posted by Hooper@Jan 17 2003, 02:31 PM
I think that progressive taxes are overall fair only because the wealthier you are, the more likely you are to find loopholes, tax free investments, 401k's and other things like that.
but the rates themselves are ridiculous. nearly 39% PPLLLUUUSSSS $95k if you make a good living????
that's ridiculous. And unfortunate because it leaves some people in the boat of paying what amounts to nearly 60% and that's just in personal income tax!
I hear belize is selling citizenship for 100k and you get to live tax free for 20 years! :-)
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The current system for income tax in the U.S. comes down hardest on the middle class. The poor aren't paying anything. The rich can afford lawyers to set up tax shelters for them and come out way ahead. It's only the middle class giving 50% of their incomes to the IRS. Replacing the income tax with a flat national sales tax seems a lot more fair. The national sales tax would have to be about 19% to replace current income tax revenues. One nice bonus to it would be that it would tax the underground economy to some extent. Drug dealers, for instance, would be paying a lot more in taxes than they do now.
Belize has some great incentives to move there. If you're over 45, you can relocate there as a retiree and they won't tax you on any income you have coming in from a non-Belize-based business. As long as you don't spend more than a certain number of weeks at a time in the U.S., you won't owe U.S. income taxes either. After Florida, Belize is the most popular place that U.S. citizens retire to. It's an English-speaking country, too.