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In theory once you attract a big enough cluster of “tax hackers”, the government can then modestly increase taxes on these folks and that can be a high leverage
by hkmurakami 8y ago
In theory once you attract a big enough cluster of “tax hackers”, the government can then modestly increase taxes on these folks and that can be a high leverage thing once you’ve attracted a large revenue base.
- Timmah 8y agoAh, so exploitation of the middle class is okay because it's only temporary. Gotcha.
- Jtsummers 8y agoIn theory... But many of these people have sufficient mobility that you have to remain under the tax level of your competition. Most of them have no actual tie to Puerto Rico and would leave in a heartbeat if they found a better deal.
- mikeyouse 8y agoAlso, it turns out that these super high net worth individuals and entities have a lot of political sway. Once you start talking about raising their costs (taxes), they will put a ton of resources into making sure you are no longer in position to do so.
- darawk 8y ago> But many of these people have sufficient mobility that you have to remain under the tax level of your competition. Not really. Puerto Rico has no real competition. It's the only place you can live inside of the US without paying federal income tax. If Puerto Rico were to raise its local tax, to say, 10%, it would still be the lowest overall tax jurisdiction in the US by a mile.
- kenmicklas 8y agoModern capitalists are way too efficient at moving capital via financialization for that to work in practice.