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British Prime Minister Theresa May and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi are among the world leaders who've expressed alarm at the rise of virtual cash to move money offshore. The U.S. Congress held hearings this month, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin called on the world's 20 biggest economies to work together to make sure cryptocurrencies don't "become the next Swiss bank account." The concern comes after a successful international crackdown on tax havens in traditional banking.
"Every country is scrambling to come up with an answer," said Drake, who serves on the boards of 25 public and private companies. "There needs to be a regulated structure that won't kill the industry."
The earliest adopters of the practice were criminals, and their involvement has risen steadily, according to a three-year study by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, a non-partisan Washington think tank. Next came users like Drake, who said he follows U.S. law by reporting his companies' holdings. Drake said better oversight would help legitimize the industry.
(Score: 1) by bobthecimmerian on Wednesday January 31 2018, @02:22PM (2 children)
You say that, but for example with the tax code changes in the US in 2018 the government will be collecting less information from most citizens than it did before. The standard deductions double, and my family is one of the tens of millions in which our annual itemized deductions won't add up to the doubled standard deduction. I'll just file with the standard deduction, so the government will no longer have right on one form my state taxes, mortgage interest, medical expenses in excess of some percentage of adjusted gross income (I forget the percent), student loan payments, and so forth. So that's good.
On the downside, if our household gross income was $50k lower our US federal income taxes for 2018 would be $1,000-$3,000 lower than they were for 2017. And if our gross income was $100k higher our US federal income taxes for 2018 would be $9,000 lower than they were for 2017. But at our income level, the loss of the personal exemption more than offsets the reduced tax brackets so we'll pay $1,000-$3,000 more in taxes for 2018 than we did for 2017. I'm less annoyed by the slight bump in our taxes than I am by the fact that the tax liability for my boss and her boss and so forth all of the way up the corporate food chain are dropping while mine is going up.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Wednesday January 31 2018, @11:04PM (1 child)
Yes, and that is just crazy. If a graduated tax is justified, at all, why not graduate it from top to bottom, in a uniform manner? The rich can get away with paying nothing, or very nearly nothing. The poor pay nothing, and usually get free money back. The working people near the middle get the shaft. And, double shafted if they dare to work overtime! My first year out of high school, I learned that working any more than 53 hours actually meant taking home LESS MONEY. I can't remember the numbers now, but I got diminishing returns between 45 and 50 hours - from 50 to 53 I took home the same money that I would have taken home at 48 or 49. At 53 hours, my net take home paycheck got SMALLER!
That cutoff has moved a little over the years, but it's still there. Work too many hours, and you actually paying the government for the privilege of working. Unless, maybe, at the end of the year, you have dependents to claim that help to get it all back.
(Score: 1) by bobthecimmerian on Thursday February 01 2018, @12:16PM
The 2018 tax changes in the US double the standard deduction but eliminate deductions for dependents. That's why my taxes are going up, I have four kids.
To be fair, our household income is somewhat north of 100k. If it was 100k we would be getting a small tax cut and if it was 50k we would be getting a significant one. But if my wife and I were doctors the tax break is enormous.