If You Can’t Tax The Poor Tax Their Food
Its hard to believe what the government will do to collect tax.
This is the new tax collection policy starting in Britain. In March, British Prime Minister David Cameron laid out plans to tax Cornish pasties and other snacks, a move critics say will hit working families at a time of economic hardship.
The British government has been embroiled in the “Pasty Tax” row since it announced plans to close a loophole that allows bakeries in Britain to serve hot takeaway food without incurring 20% value-added tax.
The items include pies, sausage rolls and pasties – a traditional delicacy eaten for centuries by miners in the southwestern English county of Cornwall, which consists of meat and vegetables in a pastry crust.
Greggs bakeries, a purveyor of fast-food, including 140 million sausage rolls per year, saw its shares slump 5.5 percent last week on news of the new tax.
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2012 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative Announced by IRS
IRS OVDI Tax Collector
1. A USA Citizen
2. A Dual USA Citizen Living Abroad
3. A USA Resident
4. A USA Green Card Holder Living Abroad
United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been aggressively pursuing US persons (including US citizens and green-card holders living abroad) who have failed to report foreign income on their US income-tax returns and/or failed to report foreign bank and investment accounts on a Foreign Bank Account Report (FBAR). A US Person, must file income tax return with IRS, regardless of their residency.
IRS implemented amnesty programs since 2009 for US citizens to come forward with their foreign income reporting. More than 30,000 people have voluntarily complied since 2009, at least 30 have been criminally indicted and the IRS has netted a total of $4.4 billion in unpaid taxes, interest and penalties.
The State Department estimates that more than 6 million citizens live overseas, excluding those in the military, yet the IRS receives only 1.6 million tax returns each year with foreign addresses. And just over 500,000 FBARs were filed in 2009.
On January 9, 2012 the IRS announced a third amnesty, formally known as the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program. It is substantially the same as the 2011 amnesty (aka 2011 OVDI), with some exceptions:
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How Would You Like To Pay Tax Like A USA Corporation
USA Corporation Tax Dodgers
These are companies listed on the top of Fortune 500 rankings and admired by professionals, investors and consumers all over the world. Their net profits are in billions of dollars, huge cash stashed in offshore accounts, and they are being subsidized by tax rebates from the USA Federal government.
The study of 280 fortune 500 companies identified,
• They have received about $223 billion in tax subsidies.
• Financial service companies (Banks) received the largest share of subsidy (17% or $37bn).
• Over the last three years 2008-2010, 50% of the tax subsidy was awarded to financial services, utilities, telecoms and oil, gas pipelines. more »
BC Province Canada Revenue Agency HST Income Tax: Canada CRA Income Tax
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How to Read Notice of Assessment and Reply to Request for Documents
Canadians tax filing deadline has passed on April 30th, 2011. And if you are one of those who have filed their tax return on time, you have probably got back your refund or if you owed taxes, paid your tax bill by now, to avoid penalties and interest.
You also probably got a Notice of Assessment from Canada Revenue Agency, explaining, how much carry forward you have for the next tax year and what is your TFSA and RRSP contribution limits for the next tax year. NOA is a very important document for you to understand and keep in file. If you do not agree with the NOA, you must file your objection in due time. If you fail to file your objection to CRA’s NOA, by law you are obligated to abide by the NOA information and data. Get help of your Tax Advisor to understand your NOA.
If your tax return was a bit complicated and you have lots of medical, tuition expense, business loss, etc., CRA will not send you a NOA. CRA will send you a 4 to 9 page letter, requesting supporting/additional documents to support your deduction claims. This letter is usually sent from CRA’s preassessment review section.
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On Line Business Tax Saving Tips
I was requested to talk about tax saving ideas for Online Business owners by Arik Sternberg founder of a Vancouver Meetup group Vancouver’s ‘Online Business Optimization’.
On line revenue generating business are taxed like any other money making business in Canada. The most important thing on line business owners can do to reduce their tax bill is to keep a detail record of all expenses related to their on line business. This alone will reduce their taxable income significantly. Further tax planning should be done with a tax advisor.
Here are the slides of the presentation.