3 ms·

Repeating something doesn't make it true ;) I actually do believe that it happened to you, but (maybe this is me coming from Germany) I can't really picture any

Repeating something doesn't make it true ;) I actually do believe that it happened to you, but (maybe this is me coming from Germany) I can't really picture any of the context. What even is a "franchise board"? I would assume something like a Gewerbeamt (entity to register businesses with)? Why do they have bank account data of you? How can they repossess property without a court order? Background: I'm about to make the jump from academia to industry and in case I overestimated the value of my soul may end up in California. So low-key evaluating whether this could affect me too I guess. But either way, it's still much better than crypto: There are recourses against state actions. At least in functional judicial states (which I guess is also a tautology xD)

mschuster91 4y ago
> There are recourses against state actions. At least in functional judicial states (which I guess is also a tautology xD) Unless the police harass you on the street and ~~steal~~confiscate all cash you have on hand aka "civil forfeiture" [1]. There are entire small towns that have set themselves up as essentially legal highway robbers [2], and federal agencies also like to rob people [3]. There's also a Last Week Tonight episode around it [4], it's a bit dated but still relevant. Here in Germany, we can at least contest seizure orders because we are named the owners of, say, a couple grands in cash... but in the US, the cash itself can be named defendant, which is ridiculous but entirely legal [5]. [1] https://www.aclu.org/issues/criminal-law-reform/reforming-police/asset-forfeiture-abuse https://www.aclu.org/issues/criminal-law-reform/reforming-po... [2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/08/they-fought-the-law-who-won/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/08/t... [3] https://ij.org/press-release/highway-robbery-in-reno-nevada-cops-use-civil-forfeiture-to-steal-a-veterans-life-savings/ https://ij.org/press-release/highway-robbery-in-reno-nevada-... [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kEpZWGgJks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kEpZWGgJks [5] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-f-will-the-heavy-hand-of-the-irs/2014/04/30/7a56ca9e-cfc5-11e3-a6b1-45c4dffb85a6_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-f-will-the-he...
jjav 4y ago
> What even is a "franchise board"? I would assume something like a Gewerbeamt (entity to register businesses with)? Why do they have bank account data of you? How can they repossess property without a court order? Franchise board is the California tax agency. Yes, they have bank account tied to a person since that's where they deposit any refunds (or extract any payments they see fit if you don't pay by other mechanism). They'll certainly take money without any court order, they are the tax man and do whatever they want. The story is very plausible, that's how they operate.
latchkey 4y ago
You're trying to apply german logic to american bureaucracy. They don't overlap. I can relate to your confusion a tiny bit, especially since you want to move here. When I was in Vietnam, a lot of people I interacted with have the dream of moving to America. Unfortunately, they just know what they see in the movies. They don't realize the harsh realities of things like the complexity of paying taxes. In Vietnam, it comes directly from your paycheck and there is VAT. There is no concept of State and Federal level taxes. Even better, you don't need to hire an accountant to do these things for you because if you mess up (and the system is designed to mess you up), it can get a lot more costly. Even with an accountant, it seems I'm not immune. When I came back to America (not by choice, I got stuck here at the start of covid and VN shut its borders), this is also why I established residency in an income tax free state. I had to get a physical address, drivers license, car registration, etc... it was a lot of work. My suggestion? If you're going to come here, do more research first.

mschuster91 4y ago

> There are recourses against state actions. At least in functional judicial states (which I guess is also a tautology xD) Unless the police harass you on the street and ~~steal~~confiscate all cash you have on hand aka "civil forfeiture" [1]. There are entire small towns that have set themselves up as essentially legal highway robbers [2], and federal agencies also like to rob people [3]. There's also a Last Week Tonight episode around it [4], it's a bit dated but still relevant. Here in Germany, we can at least contest seizure orders because we are named the owners of, say, a couple grands in cash... but in the US, the cash itself can be named defendant, which is ridiculous but entirely legal [5]. [1] https://www.aclu.org/issues/criminal-law-reform/reforming-police/asset-forfeiture-abuse https://www.aclu.org/issues/criminal-law-reform/reforming-po... [2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/08/they-fought-the-law-who-won/ https://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/08/t... [3] https://ij.org/press-release/highway-robbery-in-reno-nevada-cops-use-civil-forfeiture-to-steal-a-veterans-life-savings/ https://ij.org/press-release/highway-robbery-in-reno-nevada-... [4] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kEpZWGgJks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3kEpZWGgJks [5] https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-f-will-the-heavy-hand-of-the-irs/2014/04/30/7a56ca9e-cfc5-11e3-a6b1-45c4dffb85a6_story.html https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/george-f-will-the-he...

jjav 4y ago

> What even is a "franchise board"? I would assume something like a Gewerbeamt (entity to register businesses with)? Why do they have bank account data of you? How can they repossess property without a court order? Franchise board is the California tax agency. Yes, they have bank account tied to a person since that's where they deposit any refunds (or extract any payments they see fit if you don't pay by other mechanism). They'll certainly take money without any court order, they are the tax man and do whatever they want. The story is very plausible, that's how they operate.

latchkey 4y ago

You're trying to apply german logic to american bureaucracy. They don't overlap. I can relate to your confusion a tiny bit, especially since you want to move here. When I was in Vietnam, a lot of people I interacted with have the dream of moving to America. Unfortunately, they just know what they see in the movies. They don't realize the harsh realities of things like the complexity of paying taxes. In Vietnam, it comes directly from your paycheck and there is VAT. There is no concept of State and Federal level taxes. Even better, you don't need to hire an accountant to do these things for you because if you mess up (and the system is designed to mess you up), it can get a lot more costly. Even with an accountant, it seems I'm not immune. When I came back to America (not by choice, I got stuck here at the start of covid and VN shut its borders), this is also why I established residency in an income tax free state. I had to get a physical address, drivers license, car registration, etc... it was a lot of work. My suggestion? If you're going to come here, do more research first.