
How much of the world's wealth is hidden offshore? - goodcanadian
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-40442595
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mikhailfranco
The article totally confuses the concepts of income and wealth, especially in
the title. If your country of tax residence does not tax wealth, then moving
wealth outside the country should have no legal or moral implications. Some
countries make tax residents declare wealth, even if they don't tax it (0%
bands), just so they could tax or seize it when they really need the money.

US citizens and residents face a dramatic escalation of the problem, with
civil asset forfeiture and the global pretensions of the IRS. Really - why do
Americans, who mythically revolted against the Brits for a small tax on tea,
put up with this total abuse of power?

    
    
      If Musk ever makes it to Mars, the IRS will go interplanetary.
    

There is no discussion of the fragility and insolvency of the western banking
system, which might lead one to move wealth 'offshore', which just means
'somewhere else'. Debt is soaring in almost every sector of the western world,
and at some point the defaults will crush one/many/all of those financial
systems. No mention of Greece, Cyprus and bail-in laws that might make it
prudent to keep some money outside the place you live.

Western 'social democracies' allow electorates to vote for welfare, bloated
public sectors and tax cuts (or at least no tax rises), with the result that
all their governments are completely broke. They will try to steal your wealth
through ZIRP, NIRP, QE and inflation, but in the last resort they will just
come after it, wherever they can find it.

    
    
      Any government that is strong enough to give you anything you want, 
      is also strong enough to take everything you have.

~~~
mikhailfranco

      > If Musk ever makes it to Mars ....
    

The first thing he should do is set up the solar system's first 'offplanet'
bank - perhaps _First Mars Bank_ , or _Red Planet Bank_ , or _Planet 4 Bank_.

He should buy the .mars TLD and assign himself fmb.mars, rpb.mars and p4b.mars
and ...

Then there will be the inevitable _MOXY_ (Mars Oxygen), _Ice Mine_ to produce
water (an almost-pun on a famous Vonnegut sci-fi book) and the _Red Dirt
Mining Co._ , which will presumably excavate a lot of iron ore.

He will need a bitcoin mining site, or perhaps create his own Mars Coin.

Eventually he will need to hire lots of Starship Troopers to fight off the
invasion of giant IRS tax-collecting insectoids.

