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The public underestimates the huge efforts that have been accomplished to prevent tax evasion in the last few years. FATCA forces all signatories to report US
by ucha 5y ago
The public underestimates the huge efforts that have been accomplished to prevent tax evasion in the last few years.
FATCA forces all signatories to report US tax payer info to the IRS no matter the country in which they have a bank account.
CRS signatories do the same thing for pretty much every country in the world and automatically exchange bank account information with the tax office of one's country of residence.
Pretty much every offshore center requires identification of the UBO - Ultimate Beneficial Owner - of any tax structure in place.
It's so so so much harder to open a bank account in a country in which one is not resident because the US has a very long reaching arm and frequently punishes sanctions banks or entire countries for failing to have proper anti-money laundering controls in place. Yes, banks can be fined, not because money laundering took place but just because the regulator decided that the controls in place are not sufficient.
Where does that leave us? On one hand, tax evasion is much harder. On the other, money has become a system of control. The government knows by default who has how much in their bank account. Banks are deputised with government powers and can lock your account merely on suspicion of a fraudulent transaction. When they freeze your funds, they are legally prohibited from telling you why. You essentially don't own your money and there is no due process to have it seized. Developing countries are pretty much excluded from the modern financial system. It's close to impossible to process financial transactions if you're a software developer trying to sell your products but have the misfortune of living in Nigeria or Cuba.
It's a modern aberration that the internet is so free yet the financial system isn't at all but most people in developed countries aren't affected by this so they simply don't care. What's the point of crypto when I can use venmo, right?
[edit] typo
- kccqzy 5y ago> FACTA forces all signatories to report US tax payer info to the IRS no matter the country in which they have a bank account. I think you are referring to FATCA, not FACTA. FATCA is Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act. FACTA is Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act.
- JKCalhoun 5y ago> Pretty much every offshore center… Not a tax expert, just a layman, but my understanding is that all it takes is one offshore center....
- ucha 5y agoIt's close to impossible to get a bank account in less reputable offshore jurisdictions which limits their use to holding physical assets or IP etc... The not so funny part, is that the US isn't a member of CRS to they don't automatically send bank account of foreign citizens to their countries of residence. Major offshore centers aren't always where you expect them to be.
- merpnderp 5y agoAnd look at all the support for banning cryptocurrencies we see. The one way to sidestep the insanity of the modern financial system all of a sudden has massive support to shut it down. Arguing that to save poor people from CO2 we must perpetuate financial systems which impoverish them forever. Wonder how hard it was to get people to fixate on cryptocurrency's energy usage vs youtube's, instagrams, or netflix's?
- Fauntleroy 5y agoAnd how exactly will cryptocurrency benefit those impoverished by the current system? As is it stands, the only way to reap any benefits is to become an early investor, or to have the capital on hand to purchase the computing resources necessary to "mine" them.
- ucha 5y agoMy company has remote employees in a 3rd world country who prefer to be paid in crypto rather than on their bank account. Resident nationals are prohibited from owning foreign bank accounts. The value of freely convertible currency is 80% overstated by their central bank. If I pay them in the local currency, they lose 45% of the value of their labor to a corrupt government.
- CrazyPyroLinux 5y ago> they lose 45% of the value of their labor to a corrupt government That sounds like income taxes. :)
- merpnderp 5y agoTaxes - inflation, potato - potato.
- lazide 5y agoAt least you get a receipt when you pay your taxes I guess? One challenge with inflation is how hard it is to measure and how it impacts different parts of the economy differently. If you’re buying chickens, it might be impacting you 20% or 100%, houses the same range but differently, etc. taxes at least are usually published and more knowable/can be planned around.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]