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0 sats \ 13 replies \ @optimism 27 Jul \ parent \ on: The Increasing Impact of Bitcoin’s Ancient Supply bitcoin
Several US states and Caribbean islands. Some of the islands don't charge income tax either.
So some Caribbean islands charge no sales or income tax?
Sounds too good to be true...
How do they fund government?
Roads, infrastructure, law and order and all government administration - how are they funded?
Import Tariffs?
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- Direct investment / citizenship programmes
- Licensing of public goods - funniest example: Anguilla's TLD is .ai which brings in 20% of revenue (though I think they actually have GST now, haven't been for a while)
- Tourism taxes
Also... what roads? You mean those places where you drive your cars where potholes are manhole-sized? lol
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'Today, up to half of global offshore wealth is hidden in British jurisdictions and Britain and its dependencies are the largest global players in The Secret World of Finance.'
'The Spider's Web: Britain's Second Empire' is an informative doco on how Britain established many of these tax havens as its global wealth and power declined after the WWs.
With the decline of US empire it looks a lot like Trump is creating virtual mechanisms of a similar character...via tether and crypto.
Tax havens can be seen as parasites feeding off the wealth extracted by wealthy selfish and greedy expats and their multiple entities.
They are perhaps a natural part of the global tax ecosystem but for the vast majority of humanity, tax havens take away much more than they give.
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There may well be principled exceptions to the rule but as you have stated many of these tax havens charge an entry/citizenship fee and so are purposely and inherently exclusive to those capable of paying entry and would logically appeal most to those who are wealthy and for whom it is worthwhile to pay a substantial fee for citizenship in order to avoid paying taxes in their original location.
In many cases these wealthy expats will have gained their wealth as a result of their original locations attributes and opportunities and so motives of selfishness and greed certainly are strongly implied when they flee their origins in order to avoid returning some of their profits to its source and origin.
The wealth of nations is, imo, strongly related to the strength and integrity of their governments and ultimately the loyalty and integrity of citizens.
The doco I have linked probably covers the topic in more depth than I can.
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But then: if you as a government screw with your citizens (or corporations) and they leave, are they greedy and selfish for that? Are they non-free beings that are of lifelong allegiance to the state they were born (or initially formed) in?
Did you choose where you were born? I sure as hell didn't and regime change (I've lived through 3 major ones) is a thing too. What binds you to this nation state that taxes you and then squanders your contribution?
If you hate your job, you look for a better one elsewhere. And if you hate your country, you look for a better one elsewhere too. Sometimes, you suffer through a bad job for a couple of years because you'll gain experience that will help you land a better job. Same with countries. Sometimes you may need to work hard under very bad circumstances but save up and then be able to move.
Ask yourself: if you would have worked hard and saved as much as you could, in sats, since 2015, would you now, 10 years later, care about a 1-1.5 BTC (in the cheaper places) one-time tax and then you're free?