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THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER
Your Link to Freedom, Privacy & Prosperity in the Offshore World
Friday, October 24, 2003 - Vol. 5 No. 126
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In This Issue:
* COMMENT: Occasions of Sin
* OFFSHORE: Europe's Left in Fits Over Swiss Conservatives Election Win. Level Playing Field Dead & Buried. Israeli-Swiss Bank Scandal. Irish Taxes. Mauritius Upheld. Caymans Controversies. Hong Kong Choice. BVI Bank Cash. Italian Minister Calls EU Elite 'Filthy Pigs'
* WEALTH: IRS Rule Opposed. Delaware Leads Corporate Law. Poll the Rich.
* PRIVACY & RIGHTS: Canadian Threat? Misunderstood Patriot?
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COMMENT: Occasions of Sin
Dear A-Letter Reader:
In those ancient days when the Catholic Church still could impose strict rules, the faithful were admonished to avoid "occasions of sin." In the most successful program for recovering alcoholics, drunks are told to avoid "slippery places," lest they slide back into the clutches of demon rum.
After Tuesday hearings US Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, said that his panel had heard evidence of "tremendous abuse" by US companies and individuals of tax shelters. He and others attributed these alleged abuses to a decline in morals and ethics on the part of tax lawyers, accountants, financial advisors and taxpayers.
One wonders if the Senator has considered that he and his fellow US congressional politicians may be the true cause of tax shelter abuse.
Recently we mentioned that October marks the 90th anniversary of the US federal income tax, noting that the tax law had exploded from an original 400 pages to today's US Tax Code of more than 50,000 pages, plus thousands more pages of regulations and court decisions.
Winston Churchill once described a fellow member of the House of Commons as "a sheep in sheep's clothing." I recalled this apt description watching Sen. Grassley on TV admit that: "As chairman of the Finance Committee even I don't understand the US Revenue Code."
Grassley and all those other congressional sheep have the power to repeal the income tax and end the Byzantine labyrinth that is the IR Code. It's this massive mess of tax law that screams for reform, even as it allows crafty experts to riddle it with loopholes and escape hatches.
There's no moral imperative to pay more taxes than one owes; and under US tax laws, who really knows what is owed? Not the IRS, which more than half the time is wrong in its answers, and apparently not Sen. Grassley and his fellow Capitol Hill tax ignorants.
Get off your moralistic soap box, Senator. End the occasions of tax sins, stop providing slippery tax places. Politicians heal thyselves -- and stop acting like sheep to be herded by the tax lobbyists.
That's the way that it looks from here.
Bob Bauman, Editor
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COMMENT LINKS:
* Senator vows crackdown on tax shelters. CNN News.
LINK:http://www.cnn.com/2003/ALLPOLITICS/10/22/cities.taxes/
* Who Fears Tax Man? Not Rich Cheaters. Newsday. LINK:
http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bztax1022,0,7463898.story?coll=ny-business-headlines
* Accountants sued by client over failed tax shelter. LINK (sub only):
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB106685656655142900-search,00.html
* GAO on Combating Abusive Tax Shelters.
LINKS:http://www.gao.gov/cgi-bin/getrpt?GAO-04-104T
http://www.gao.gov/highlights/d04104thigh.pdf
* Estate Tax Opponents May Be Forced to Compromise. LINK:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61509-2003Oct21.html
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* OFFSHORE *
SWISS ELECTION OUTCOME SCARES EUROPE'S LEFT
* Conservatives' government power bid gathers momentum. LINK:
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=105&sid=4361651
* Conservative victory threatens Swiss-EU agreements. LINK:
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=105&sid=4368244
* Left claims Swiss Right won by using fear factors. LINK:
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/swissinfo.html?siteSect=105&sid=4367503
* Swiss right-wing pales alongside European extremes. LINK:
http://www.swissinfo.org/sen/Swissinfo.html?siteSect=111&sid=4363559
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THERE IS NO 'LEVEL PLAYING FIELD'
Heritage Foundation's Dan Mitchell buries deep the OECD tax fraud.
LINK:http://www.freedomandprosperity.org/Papers/lpf/lpf.shtml
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ISRAELI-SWISS BANK SCANDAL
An alleged multimillion dollar scam by the Swiss subsidiary
of Bank Leumi, Israel's second largest bank. LINK:
http://www.forward.com/issues/2003/03.10.24/news10.leumi.html
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IRISH TAX COLLECTORS TARGET BANKS, ADVISORS
And anyone else they can grab for alleged offshore tax avoidance.
LINK:http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=13794
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INDIAN COURT UPHOLDS MAURITIUS TAX EXEMPTION
Investment flows via island tax haven expected to grow. LINK:
http://www.reuters.com/locales/newsArticle.jsp?type=businessNews&locale=en_IN&storyID=3654401
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CAYMANS CITIZENSHIP DISPUTE
GEORGE TOWN: 2000 new citizens created by Cabinet action.
LINK:http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/2003/10/23/status.htm
* $16 million in Russian defense bribes stashed in Caymans banks? LINK:
http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_columns_100032_21/10/2003_35423
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HONG KONG IS THE BUSINESS CHOICE
Hong Kong remains location of choice for regional HQs.
LINK:http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=13766
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B.V.I. BANK MAY HOLD FRAUD CASH
Scamming investor's girlfriend may have hidden
money in British Virgin Island bank account.
LINK:http://www.newsnet5.com/news/2575288/detail.html
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ITALIAN MINISTER CALLS E.U. ELITE 'FILTHY PIGS'
ROME: The European Union's elite are determined to destroy
Europe's Christian heritage, Italy's reform minister, says. LINK:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/10/23/wpig23.xml&sSheet=/news/2003/10/23/ixnewstop.html
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* WEALTH *
MORE OPPOSITION TO I.R.S. REPORTING PROPOSAL
Proposed regulation likely to drive foreign investment from US.
LINK:http://www.tax-news.com/asp/story/story.asp?storyname=13782
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THE STATE OF DELAWARE LEADS IN CORPORATE LAW
Other states, nations, follow First State's company laws. Despite US
scandals, Delaware's amazing grip on corporate law endures. LINK:
http://www.economist.com/business/displayStory.cfm?story_id=2155765
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ARE THE RICH REALLY DIFFERENT?
11 nation survey; wealthy want more money but also more time. LINKS:
http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-biz-poll1021,0,3261656.story?coll=ny-business-headlines
http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=SVBIZINK4.story&STORY=/www/story/10-21-2003/0002040542&EDATE=TUE+Oct+21+2003,+10:31+AM
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* PRIVACY & RIGHTS *
CANADIAN LAWS POSE TERROR THREAT TO U.S
Lax immigration laws may be putting Americans at risk.
LINK:http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,100755,00.html
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SENATORS SAY PATRIOT ACT MISUNDERSTOOD
Do complaints about civil liberties go beyond law's reach? LINK:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A61591-2003Oct21.html
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THE SOVEREIGN SOCIETY OFFSHORE A-LETTER. *
Bob Bauman, Editor * Daniel Aponte, Jr. Research Asst.
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