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Would you not make use of a tax break even if you taking it harmed your neighbour? Everyone's response would be "It may suck for you that you can't leverage tha

Would you not make use of a tax break even if you taking it harmed your neighbour? Everyone's response would be "It may suck for you that you can't leverage that loophole, but that person is not breaking the law." It's like the difference between claiming mileage vs. claiming vehicle rental/gas for work trips. You're not breaking the law by claiming one over the other, you're leveraging the framework to greater effect than some others are able. It doesn't make it morally right, but at the end of the day, everyone leverages the opportunities they have. You can't blame someone for that. They are working within the confines of the framework defined for their circumstance. If that framework had loopholes that could be leveraged by that individual, they would take them.

holografix 9y ago
That’s why the opportunity shouldnt be there. It’s unfair and leads to further concentration of power. In other words it’s anti competitive.
- balabaster 9y ago
  I do agree with this. Opportunities shouldn't be there unfairly. If one person should be able to leverage an opportunity, in my mind, so should everyone. In that sense, I'm currently in favour of the basic income strategy being piloted in Sweden right now. I would like to see everyone on an equal playing field. But that said, in the meantime I'm going to leverage every tool I have access to, just as you should and everyone else should.
arethuza 9y ago
J.K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books and who is fairly wealthy has an interesting moral stance on paying tax: "... I am indebted to the British welfare state; the very one that Mr. Cameron would like to replace with charity handouts. When my life hit rock bottom, that safety net, threadbare though it had become under John Major’s Government, was there to break the fall. I cannot help feeling, therefore, that it would have been contemptible to scarper for the West Indies at the first sniff of a seven-figure royalty cheque. This, if you like, is my notion of patriotism..." http://www.taxfairness.ca/en/news/j-k-rowling-paying-taxes-and-welfare-state http://www.taxfairness.ca/en/news/j-k-rowling-paying-taxes-a...
- balabaster 9y ago
  Another reason I think she's an amazing woman to look up to and aspire to be like... but I'm not making 7 figure royalty cheques. I'm paying the same taxes (give or take) as everyone else that can't afford to leverage West Indies tax shelters. In the meantime, I'm stuck utilizing tax loopholes that save me tens of dollars a year.
  - arethuza 9y ago
    I think was I was probably reacting to "everyone leverages the opportunities they have." and I was pointing out that there are some people, like Rowling, who avoid paying very large amounts of tax (tens or hundreds of millions in her case) for largely moral reasons. I'm just happy that people like that exist.... :-)
    - balabaster 9y ago
      I don't begrudge those that have made it, in fact, the opposite is true, I'm happy they managed to cross the chasm. Unfortunately many of us that still have to work hard to afford a relative life of comfort vs. struggling at the poverty line can't afford to not leverage every tax loophole we can in order to give our kids every possible opportunity for success that we've fought tooth and nail for.

holografix 9y ago

That’s why the opportunity shouldnt be there. It’s unfair and leads to further concentration of power. In other words it’s anti competitive.

balabaster 9y ago
I do agree with this. Opportunities shouldn't be there unfairly. If one person should be able to leverage an opportunity, in my mind, so should everyone. In that sense, I'm currently in favour of the basic income strategy being piloted in Sweden right now. I would like to see everyone on an equal playing field. But that said, in the meantime I'm going to leverage every tool I have access to, just as you should and everyone else should.

arethuza 9y ago

J.K Rowling, author of the Harry Potter books and who is fairly wealthy has an interesting moral stance on paying tax: "... I am indebted to the British welfare state; the very one that Mr. Cameron would like to replace with charity handouts. When my life hit rock bottom, that safety net, threadbare though it had become under John Major’s Government, was there to break the fall. I cannot help feeling, therefore, that it would have been contemptible to scarper for the West Indies at the first sniff of a seven-figure royalty cheque. This, if you like, is my notion of patriotism..." http://www.taxfairness.ca/en/news/j-k-rowling-paying-taxes-and-welfare-state http://www.taxfairness.ca/en/news/j-k-rowling-paying-taxes-a...

balabaster 9y ago
Another reason I think she's an amazing woman to look up to and aspire to be like... but I'm not making 7 figure royalty cheques. I'm paying the same taxes (give or take) as everyone else that can't afford to leverage West Indies tax shelters. In the meantime, I'm stuck utilizing tax loopholes that save me tens of dollars a year.
- arethuza 9y ago
  I think was I was probably reacting to "everyone leverages the opportunities they have." and I was pointing out that there are some people, like Rowling, who avoid paying very large amounts of tax (tens or hundreds of millions in her case) for largely moral reasons. I'm just happy that people like that exist.... :-)
  - balabaster 9y ago
    I don't begrudge those that have made it, in fact, the opposite is true, I'm happy they managed to cross the chasm. Unfortunately many of us that still have to work hard to afford a relative life of comfort vs. struggling at the poverty line can't afford to not leverage every tax loophole we can in order to give our kids every possible opportunity for success that we've fought tooth and nail for.