German Chancellor Schroeder calls for tax avoiders to be ostracized--A term from the Middle Ages

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung ^ | Dec. 26 2003 | By Karen Horn

[DeaconBenjamin]

So much for Christmas being a time of peace. The chancellor has called for people who have move abroad to save taxes to be ostracized. To ostracize somebody in the Middle Ages meant declaring the person who had broken the law as being without honor and without rights. He could be killed without anyone having to fear persecution.

Such draconian consequences can hardly be intended for people circumventing the German tax system. That makes the choice of words even more absurd. Behind such threats is nothing less than the government's self interests.

It's hard for a state that digs ever deeper into its citizens' pockets to bear the idea that citizens find ways to circumvent it. That's why they wish for a collective moral sentencing of those who cannot be brought into line.

But the morals of a society cannot be controlled so easily and nobody should presume to do so. It's time to learn from the lesson; many take to this - after all, peaceful - protest. The freedom of citizens is still too limited in this country.

[yarddog]

If I remember my old classics lessons, the word comes from the Greek word "Ostrakon" which was a shard of pottery which a person would write the name of the one they wanted banished from Athens for a period of time. They would then put the shard into a box as in modern voting.

I know some of these shards have been unearthed witht the names of well known people on them.

I guess that is one election a politician did not want to win.

[ClearCase_guy]

I think you are right about the Greek. My first guess was that "Ost" referred to "East" and that this meant the Germans were going to start moving undesirables "to the East" -- which I believe is how the final solution was sometimes explained.

[mansion]

Maybe he's been talking to John Kerry:

We need the courage to stand up to unpatriotic companies that incorporate overseas to avoid taxes here at home. Middle class Americans are having a harder time in this economy. And I say it’s long since time that powerful corporations paid their fair share.

Sen. Charles Grassley also has made similar remarks, and created the "Reversing the Expatriation of Profits Offshore (REPO)" Act to stop it...

[xzins]

What % of income does the German government take in all taxes?

[Ciexyz]

Let's not connect this to the actions of corporations, please. The Euroweenies want to tax their expatriates who immigrate to America and earn salaries here. If they get their way, a huge chunk of American dollars will be sucked back to Europe, which would be a tragedy for the U.S. economy.

[Sgt_Schultze]

There might be a glimmer of an idea in taxing those who avoid paying. We should start with the "diplomats" in New York at the UN...receiving perqs and priveleges, enjoying immunity from criminal acts, all while enjoying the freedoms of this country - without paying a nickel in taxes. This must end. Great idea Schroeder

[claudiustg]

Down with Schroeder! Down with the UN!

[longtermmemmory]

This is like Clinton trying to BStreisand America by telling us that taxes were actually "contributions".

People who live in Europe are used to having to avoid oppressive taxes. In Italy it is an art form.

[mansion]

Yeah, you're right. My point was (supposed to be) that this is still ground America has already covered...

America can tax people for up to 10 years after they've expatriated, and forbid them to visit the USA again, under the HIPAA and the Immigration Reform Act of '96.

[Ciexyz]

America can tax people up to ten years after they've expatriated....

Really? I learn something new every day.

[The Duke]

Could be retitled...."Worthless politician who feeds at the tax trough calls for tax avoiders to be ostracized"

[mansion]

Yeah, it's true... If you're really interested, check out Section 352 of the Immigration Reform Act (of 1996), and Title 26, Section 877 of the IRS code....

What is interesting is that it kicks in if they even SUSPECT you're leaving the US to avoid taxation. Sort of like "hate crimes" - your suspected state of mind adds penalties. Unlike "hate crimes", however - leaving the USA is not illegal!

They call them "tax-motivated expatriates"! Once again, USA is blazing the trails, and the Europeans are struggling to keep up! Too bad our trailblazing is in the arena of taxation :P

[optimistically_conservative]

Why not, Schroeder has already ostracized himself from most of the voters in Germany.

[pepsionice]

The percentage differs....being single and making around $30k...its around 32 percent. If you pull in $60k, then you are talking about 36 percent. Being married and making $40k, with two kids, its around 22 percent. Anyone making over $100k per year....is looking at a 40 percent chunk.

However, this really doesn't capture the real picture. Gas is taxed at roughly $3 a gallon. Cigerettes run around $40 a carton. Sales tax for non-essentials runs around 16 percent. Throw in $150 minimum for each car per year....a dog tax of at least $20 per year minimum.....and a $250 a year TV tax....it all starts to add up. Most in the German government fail to see the overall picture.

What is starting to irratate Schroeder....is the avoidance of taxes. In the 1960s, the filthy rich figured out ways to get their money out of view. By the early 1990s....it was the lawyers, doctors, and upper class businessmen. In the last five years....the middle class have gotten into the act. They all know of the secret bank accounts in Switzerland and Luxembourg. They know of the countries that readily take money and hide it. The vast majority of people making over $60k per year are taking some kind of action to move money out of the country.

And if this wasn't enough....there are the construction 'dogs'. About a third of all houses are privately built now...and people have learned the contracting business. They bring in Polish electricians over 4 days to wrap up all electrial requirements....costing only 60 percent of what a typical German electrican would have charged. Need your heating redone....bring in a Italian heating specialist, pay him in cash, and you save 30 percent. Retired German plumbers (in their 70s)....are working as consulatants for people with no knowledge of plumbing and helping to change out waterlines and pipes....and these guys get paid in cash and don't have to lift a finger...saving at least 50 percent on cost here.

The government is finally beginning to realize that revenue is simply not being reported...nor coming in. The money bucket is missing at least 25 percent of its amount. With the cost of doing business today in Germany....you can't afford to do things the old way. Eventually, Schroeder will be forced to finally trim the government...something that has been stalled for two decades. But even then....who wants to pay taxes? No one.

[xzins]

Germany's mehrversteuer (sp) tax on consumption is about 20% as well, isn't it?

It sounds like the German tax burden approaches 60%.

No wonder the people are looking for work-arounds. An astute politician would run on a tax-cutting platform AND call on all those who've dodged taxes to support him so they no longer have to be illegal.