I'm curious whether Finn's tax obligation is actually $100 million in tax, or $100 million total after the completely effed way in which the IRS tallies their penalties, interest and compounded f*ck-you-in-the-bum accounting of taxpayer wrongdoing.
Suicide? These Repugs really take it seriously when they say they don't want the gub'ment spending their money, don't they?
@PaisleyPajamas: What does it matter (it does include fines, by the way)? So he dodged $50 mil or $25 mil or $70 mil? It's still him sucking money out of the country that he profited from, while the rest of us on ADP's automatic take-out-your-taxes payroll somehow pay 100% of our obligation.
@FormerEnglishMajor: My interest was actually operating in the opposite direction than what you suggest: If he owed $100 million in unpaid tax ONLY, I grow pale and slightly nauseous to think what sort of penalties and interest this would accrue. If he were assessed those amounts in the same fashion that Joe Working Class is, his actually "amount owed" the IRS could be as high as a billion. Yeah, bullet in the head would seem like the appropriate answer in this case.
Even better, the IRS put liens on his four (grown) sons' trust funds, because they suspect the trusts haven't been playing fair ball either. Selling your name out for a few extra mil... damn, really - can it possibly be worth it? Hard to imagine ANY of the people deciding what to do this week even having to debate this. UBS is giving up the names of its clients to US authorities in a few months, according to the settlement. Seems like a big losing bet.
And all 4 sons went to Harvard Law - where Daddy donated tens of millions. Of money that was owed so, say, we could have a couple more childcare programs or a healthcare plan or God forbid, a lower deficit. How I hate tax cheats.
These are the SAME mofos who claim working class people dodge their taxes, or don't work at all and are a drain on the government? It boggles the mind the pathological level of a sense of entitlement these f*ckers have enjoyed.
Cry me a river. Not only are they crooks (hiding money offshore is just as illegal as money laundering or stealing), but they've had months to come clean. The UBS story (their advisors actively helping clients stash money offshore - which is where this all stemmed from) has been playing out the entire year.
@gabrielsong: Sir John Templeton moved to Bermuda to avoid taxes as well. It's wrong. You earn money in a country, you owe taxes in that country. I believe the TYC loophole has been closed. The Bermuda/insurance company one has not though I believe (will have to look up) they do have to report (though not pay) the earnings to the IRS.
@FormerEnglishMajor: don't forget that in light of your rationale americans who work overseas pay double--both local payrol taxes in their host country, and fed tax here. that's a whole lot of wrong.
@thatgirlinnewyork: oh that is not what I am saying. Templeton, Tyco, and the re-insurers like XL Limited are in Bermuda to avoid paying taxes, period. They are to whom I am referring (hence my posting under the Tax Cheat Hell Week). This has nothign to do with payroll tax issues with Americans working overseas. I do not even pretend to know enough about tax law to untangle that one.
hmm, lucrative business ideas:
1. cement shoe cobbler-mason
2. money launderer-launderer
3. pinstripe suit, pinstripe painter (nobody can afford the real thing now-think pantyhose seam crayon)
4. Folgers sales associates-bye Starbucks
5. organ grinder monkey trainer, I see them coming back-bye naked guitar guy or whatever
I could go on
I really don't have much use for Paulson anymore, but the financial bailout is one of the major reasons why a lot of the economists are talking about economic recovery. It certainly wasn't the President's Day stimulus package.
It should be generally noted that banks processing debits and credits in a specific order. Meaning that they take money OUT of your account FIRST, then put money in. Regulatory changes over the past couple years regarding settlement have evolved, but I don't see that stuff regularly, so I don't know what is required (some banks are 'nicer' than others). Generally, think of all daily transactions as happening after the bank closes (say, 6PM). All withdrawals (debits) -- checks, ATMs, etc., occur in order they arrive, followed by credits -- deposits, refunds, transfers -- then flow in. Generally, if you end up with a positive balance after the credits are processed, you will be okay. But if a deposited check is not fully available, you might be overdrawn (which is when your current balance and available balance are unequal). Mileage may vary, due to the type of relationship you have, the bank, etc.
This, strictly speaking, isn't how it happens, allowing for things like deposit availability (when a check clears), but understand that if you deposit cash at 4PM Monday that covers a series of transactions from the weekend that would make you overdrawn does not guarantee you won't get hit with a bundle of overdraft fees. Rationally speaking, it should (after all, if the bank is zeroing out all your daily transactions at once, no money has been lost if you end up with a positive balance), but, you know, banks. If you imagine that an overdrawn amount as a bell that rings every time you are mathematically in the red, you can see how the bell rings five times before you cash deposit hits, and voila, 5 overdraft fees, even though by 7PM Monday your account is adequately funded.
Until federal bank regs are overhauled so that settlement occurs immediately (something that is, generally speaking, technically viable), you can fume at banks all you want, but you can't really stop them, so keep the above in mind, since it mirrors the way accounts were processed before ATMs (this is the 'batch processing' that Gladwell was referring to in his latest opus of idiocy) and various settlement advances happened. It should generally protect you from fee problems, but also will constrain your spending. Just because online banking looks immediate and feels like it is the last word, it may well not be the case.
Generally, avoid combo ATM/Debit cards, and use a monthly intermediary like AMEX to fund card purchasing, or online payments (like PayPal), unless you check on or manage your frequently. AMEX requires more discipline, but the liability issues about a Debit card are not worth the headache, and AMEX has excellent fraud management. When you use AMEX, you are basically withholding final settlement of your liability, which is not a bad personal policy, provided you manage your cash. It will be the only leverage you get, so take what you can, since everyone else is. Your employer makes you wait two weeks for pay, the government holds your estimated takes up to a year before issuing the refund you are due, so why shouldn't you delay final settlement as long as possible?
And I promise you these fucks are protected by every relevant congress member and senator of both parties. The ownership class of America see us all as being beneath dirt and worthy only of stealing from. Usury protection? Don't ask for help from Joe Biden or Chris Dodd. They're laughing their asses off about this.
Here's a suggestion for changing the banking system permanently and making them heel to consumers: stop paying your credit card balances. Sure, if just one of us does it, they'll be screwed. If everyone does it, the banks will be fucked. As they should be. Fuck. Them.
- Checked my Online Banking at 2am, morning of June 9th
- Went in to deposit $140 cash as a $575 cheque was going to be pending any day now, which would have left me $60 overdrawn without the $140
- Put in cash, avail immediately, went back home, Online Banking statement AND branch employee says it went through
- June 10: OB statement says $575 cheque went through on 8th (???)
- 0.47 transaction (charge for international cancer donation, why??)
- MBTA transaction had been pulled out on 28th June and re-posted on June 8th
- 7 transactions rearranged from highest to lowest including cheque and processed BEFORE $140 cash went in, resulting in 6 overdraft fees
So they fudged the date on my cheque, pulled out and put back in a transaction, and rearranged the transactions from highest to lowest to maximise their overdrafts.
And then they tell me to use Online Banking to keep track of my fucking account!
FUCK BofA. No sane human being can keep up with these constant mindfucks. Instead of having almost $80 in my account I am now $98 overdrawn.
@JuliaJolie: BofA does this all the time with me, too. I check my balance before purchases or withdrawals, yet they constantly change the dates on transactions, and then by payday I'm been down nearly $100 in overdraft fees.
Their shady "accounting" has me looking for another bank.
I had an overdraft credit line with BofA for almost 15 years. It was $4600. Back years ago I did occasionally make the mistake of overdrawing my account and they gleefully charged me $3 for every $50 they put into my checking account ($50 was the minimum). Plus I would, of course, pay interest on whatever charges they made.
But lately I have been careful, careful, careful and have been transferring money when I need to, before I need to and keep a balance in my savings and checking accounts.
So they closed my overdraft line of credit. For "inactivity".
I used to be able to use my ATM card like a credit card and not have to deal with putting stuff on a credit card, but now it is no longer a credit card at all. So I have no cushion whatsoever.
To make this feel even more disempowering, this was the last credit that I had in my name only.
And the saddest thing? We stay with BofA because we have not found another bank that isn't worse.
You can take advantage of their low balance emails service and I highly recommend it. It is free.
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
11/03/09
09/16/09
Suicide? These Repugs really take it seriously when they say they don't want the gub'ment spending their money, don't they?
09/16/09
09/16/09
09/16/09
09/16/09
Even better, the IRS put liens on his four (grown) sons' trust funds, because they suspect the trusts haven't been playing fair ball either. Selling your name out for a few extra mil... damn, really - can it possibly be worth it? Hard to imagine ANY of the people deciding what to do this week even having to debate this. UBS is giving up the names of its clients to US authorities in a few months, according to the settlement. Seems like a big losing bet.
And all 4 sons went to Harvard Law - where Daddy donated tens of millions. Of money that was owed so, say, we could have a couple more childcare programs or a healthcare plan or God forbid, a lower deficit. How I hate tax cheats.
09/16/09
These are the SAME mofos who claim working class people dodge their taxes, or don't work at all and are a drain on the government? It boggles the mind the pathological level of a sense of entitlement these f*ckers have enjoyed.
09/16/09
09/16/09
09/16/09
09/16/09
09/16/09
09/16/09
09/16/09
08/22/09
1. cement shoe cobbler-mason
2. money launderer-launderer
3. pinstripe suit, pinstripe painter (nobody can afford the real thing now-think pantyhose seam crayon)
4. Folgers sales associates-bye Starbucks
5. organ grinder monkey trainer, I see them coming back-bye naked guitar guy or whatever
I could go on
08/22/09
08/13/09
06/14/09
This, strictly speaking, isn't how it happens, allowing for things like deposit availability (when a check clears), but understand that if you deposit cash at 4PM Monday that covers a series of transactions from the weekend that would make you overdrawn does not guarantee you won't get hit with a bundle of overdraft fees. Rationally speaking, it should (after all, if the bank is zeroing out all your daily transactions at once, no money has been lost if you end up with a positive balance), but, you know, banks. If you imagine that an overdrawn amount as a bell that rings every time you are mathematically in the red, you can see how the bell rings five times before you cash deposit hits, and voila, 5 overdraft fees, even though by 7PM Monday your account is adequately funded.
Until federal bank regs are overhauled so that settlement occurs immediately (something that is, generally speaking, technically viable), you can fume at banks all you want, but you can't really stop them, so keep the above in mind, since it mirrors the way accounts were processed before ATMs (this is the 'batch processing' that Gladwell was referring to in his latest opus of idiocy) and various settlement advances happened. It should generally protect you from fee problems, but also will constrain your spending. Just because online banking looks immediate and feels like it is the last word, it may well not be the case.
Generally, avoid combo ATM/Debit cards, and use a monthly intermediary like AMEX to fund card purchasing, or online payments (like PayPal), unless you check on or manage your frequently. AMEX requires more discipline, but the liability issues about a Debit card are not worth the headache, and AMEX has excellent fraud management. When you use AMEX, you are basically withholding final settlement of your liability, which is not a bad personal policy, provided you manage your cash. It will be the only leverage you get, so take what you can, since everyone else is. Your employer makes you wait two weeks for pay, the government holds your estimated takes up to a year before issuing the refund you are due, so why shouldn't you delay final settlement as long as possible?
06/14/09
06/13/09
06/13/09
06/13/09
- Checked my Online Banking at 2am, morning of June 9th
- Went in to deposit $140 cash as a $575 cheque was going to be pending any day now, which would have left me $60 overdrawn without the $140
- Put in cash, avail immediately, went back home, Online Banking statement AND branch employee says it went through
- June 10: OB statement says $575 cheque went through on 8th (???)
- 0.47 transaction (charge for international cancer donation, why??)
- MBTA transaction had been pulled out on 28th June and re-posted on June 8th
- 7 transactions rearranged from highest to lowest including cheque and processed BEFORE $140 cash went in, resulting in 6 overdraft fees
So they fudged the date on my cheque, pulled out and put back in a transaction, and rearranged the transactions from highest to lowest to maximise their overdrafts.
And then they tell me to use Online Banking to keep track of my fucking account!
FUCK BofA. No sane human being can keep up with these constant mindfucks. Instead of having almost $80 in my account I am now $98 overdrawn.
06/15/09
Their shady "accounting" has me looking for another bank.
06/13/09
But lately I have been careful, careful, careful and have been transferring money when I need to, before I need to and keep a balance in my savings and checking accounts.
So they closed my overdraft line of credit. For "inactivity".
I used to be able to use my ATM card like a credit card and not have to deal with putting stuff on a credit card, but now it is no longer a credit card at all. So I have no cushion whatsoever.
To make this feel even more disempowering, this was the last credit that I had in my name only.
And the saddest thing? We stay with BofA because we have not found another bank that isn't worse.
You can take advantage of their low balance emails service and I highly recommend it. It is free.