Tax Matters

How to tell if you're living in the wrong country-Thomas Alston

This was written by a true friend-Simon Black at Sovereign Man

Notes from the Field

 

Date: January 24, 2012
Reporting From: Santiago, Chile

Yesterday, Kentucky senator Rand Paul was detained by the TSA in Nashville after refusing to be fondled by the airport agents. 

Paul has been a vocal enemy of the TSA, blasting the agency last year after agents conducted an invasive search of a 6-year old girl despite her parents' objections. TSA Director John Pistole suggested that, because a young child in Afghanistan is capable of detonating a roadside bomb, all children should be considered potential threats.

Paul raised the issue again yesterday in an opinion piece . As usual, the Obama administration closed ranks around the TSA yesterday, defending the agency and insisting that "we take necessary actions to ensure that air travel is safe." Such as treating 6-year old girls like criminal terrorists. 

Air travel is never going to be safe. We're talking about a 500,000 pound flying building crammed with hundreds of strangers criss-crossing the skies nearly 100,000 times in a single day. There's a lot of room for things to go wrong. 

 

Criminalizing travel, which is the effective net result of the current passenger screening process, has minimal impact on weeding out the boogeyman. There are so many holes in the TSA procedures-- medication, baby formula, pilot exceptions. Not to mention a whole world of softer targets. Who needs airplanes when you have shopping malls?

One of the first things I learned in the intelligence business years ago is that smart enemies will always adapt their tactics. It's not rocket science; Sun-Tzu wrote the same 2,500 years ago-- focusing on a single approach (like airport security) is useless. 

Thing is, TSA airport security has nothing to do with security, and everything to do with making sure that every human being who transits within or through a US commercial airport knows exactly who is in charge. We call it the Tip of the Spear.

The idea is to desensitize people to government intrusion, generally with something shocking (like treating a 6-year old girl as a criminal terrorist). That's the tip of the spear. As the spear drives further and further into its target, subsequent intrusions seem less and less acute. 

Psychologist Robert Cialdini, whose writings on influence and persuasion have been read by millions across the world in dozens of languages, discusses three key principles which apply to this 'Tip of the Spear' approach.

The first is called social proof. It's easy to understand-- like lemmings, sheep, or milk cows, people standing in the security line watching everyone else get patted down and go through body scanners, will most likely comply with the social norm. Monkey see, monkey do. 

The second is the principle of authority. Also easy to understand-- people will obey authority figures even if it requires taking objectionable action. Uniforms establish an authority image, as do the training programs that teach intimidation tactics to government agents-- voice projection, direct eye contact, use of professional vocabulary, etc.

The third is a bit more complex; Cialdini calls it the principle of commitment and consistency. Simply put, if people commit to an idea in word or deed, their future actions will be consistent with this idea because it becomes part of their own self-image.

In this context, people who submit to government intrusion the first time (e.g. watch their children receive pat-downs at TSA checkpoints) are more likely to continue acceding to further government intrusions down the road. It's a bit of a boiling frog approach.

When you step back and look at the big picture, 'security' is an utter farce. The moral argument for such measures is rooted in a silly myth that men in caves wish to do us harm. The legal argument is questionable at best. Many folks forget that the Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution states:

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated..."

Does anyone truly consider it reasonable to subject passengers to demeaning, invasive searches? Or to douse travelers in radiation from machines that cost over $100,000? Or to waste billions of dollars and man-hours each year on security procedures that are routinely proven to be ineffective? 

If the answer is yes, then you obviously don't see eye-to-eye with your neighbors, hence you're probably living in the wrong country.

If the answer is no, then it should be obvious that your government has hijacked liberty... in which case you're probably living in the wrong country.

Until tomorrow,  

Simon Black
Senior Editor, SovereignMan.com

 

There is no such thing as bonus depreciation for aircraft-Thomas Alston

We need to stop lying to ourselves

 In the last 60 days of 2011 nearly every piece of promotion that came out extolling people to buy an aircraft talked about bonus depreciation. There is no such thing.

 Check the definition of the word bonus.

bo•nus

 [boh-nuh s] noun, plural -nus•es.

1.  something given or paid over and above what is due.

2. a sum of money granted or given to an employee, a returned soldier, etc., in addition to regular pay, usually in appreciation for work done, length of service, accumulated favors, etc.

3.  something free, as an extra dividend, given by a corporation to a purchaser of its securities.

4.  a premium paid for a loan, contract, etc.

5.  Something extra or additional given freely: Every purchaser of a pound of coffee received a box of cookies as a bonus.

 Some marketing people started using that term incorrectly and many of us have continued the practice until the term “bonus depreciation” is part of our aircraft nomenclature.

 It is all part of an illusion fostered on us by the government lackeys in Washington.  This is the end result of begging politicians to give special favor to our industry over others.  The government gave us nothing.  It is all a ruse.  They steal our money through inflation hoping we don’t notice their corruption.

Silly us, we play along. We convince ourselves that we got a little sumpin’ extra through our lobbying efforts.  That would mean they granted us some piece of someone else’s pie.  James Madison stated it best when he said;

 "I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents..."

 The correct phrase should be accelerated depreciation not bonus depreciation. Taxpayers do not receive 105 dollars worth of depreciation for every 100 dollars spent. That would be a bonus. We are merely allowed to take the depreciation faster. The total amount of depreciation is limited by 100 percent of the price. Why should we bow and scrape and say thank you for getting what we are entitled to?

 

 

 

 

Income Inequality-John Hayward

I could not have said it better myself- Thomas Alston

"Income inequality" is a hot topic these days.  It's the battle cry of the Occupy Wall Street movement, based largely on a flawed Congressional Budget Office study that showed the share of income held by  the dreadful "One Percent" of top earners rising from 8% in 1979 to 17% in 2007.  If the CBO had made this a full ten-year study, instead of mysteriously ending their analysis in 2007, they would have noticed the One Percent's share dropping back to 11.3% by 2009 as the recession got under way.

Furthermore, a great deal of the increased income reported by the "One Percent" was exactly that: an increase in reported income.  They responded to lower tax rates by shifting more of their income into taxable categories, which also happen to be productive categories which create jobs.  Huge tax increases on the Evil Rich would reverse this process… to the inevitable detriment of everyone who depends upon their investments.  Which, for those of you who still take the Occupy movement seriously, means "everyone else."

At the same time the One Percent's share of income was rising, their share of federal income taxes paid was rising even faster.  With allowances for 1986 changes to tax law that make comparisons before and after that year imprecise, top earners went from paying 19% of income taxes in 1979 to 36.73% by 2009.  It seems clear that the One Percent are paying far more than a proportionate share of income taxes, and the percentage they pay has been increasing much more quickly than their share of the income.

So, to repeat the question defenders of economic liberty have been asking socialists for over a century: what percentage of tax paid by the Evil Rich would be "fair?"  It's obviously not a tax burden equivalent to their share of income, because they're paying two or three times that much now.  Why don't we isolate that number, according to some logical formula, and put it on the table for consideration?

The answer, of course, is that "inequality" is the eternal wellspring of collectivist power.  It is the dragon that can never be slain, the Grail that can never be seized.  It will always dance just out of reach… and there will always be socialists leaning over our shoulders and whispering that we must hand over more control of our lives, so they can get us just a little bit closer.

—John Hayward

Aero & Marine Tax Professionals Helps Fastener Company Obtain Tax Exemption

Company Highly Pleased At Receiving Sales Tax Exemption on The Purchase Of New Plane

SACRAMENTO, CA: Aero & Marine Tax Professionals (http://www.aeromarinetaxpros.com), a professional tax firm in Northern California, has helped a wholesale fastener distributor company obtain a sales tax exemption on the purchase of a Cirrus airplane for use in traveling to business meetings in destinations across the US. The sales tax exemption was obtained from the California Board of Equalization on behalf of the company.

An executive of the company stated “We use the aircraft for visiting customers, vendors, going to trade shows, and visiting our sales manager in Wyoming. It's a lot more convenient flying yourself. Some of the destinations are much more difficult to get to via commercial airlines, especially when you would have to fly to a remote airport and then rent a car to do a long drive. Or worse, fly a commuter airline which is a lot more expensive. I can do in four hours what would take a day to do on commercial airline. I can go, do business, and then get back in one day where it would take one day just to get there by commercial airline.”

“Aero and Marine Tax Professionals held my hand and had patience. I did get upside down at the beginning, they had sent me a packet of information, and I had made a mistake, only copying one side of the packet of information they had sent me. Once they got me straightened out on that, I did do well and they caught a couple of my other errors. I would absolutely recommend Aero & Marine Tax Professionals! You can tell others that they just saved Jim Law at Ababa Bolt $60,000 on the purchase.”

Tom Alston, founder of Aero & Marine Tax Professionals, said “It’s pretty much your safest option to call us if you are even considering buying an airplane. Many people don’t realize how many ways it can go wrong in obtaining a sales tax exemption on the purchase of an aircraft. Well, we know all the ways, and more importantly we know how to make it go right.”

Aero & Marine Tax Professionals shows purchasers how to avoid sales tax, specifically how to avoid aircraft tax and vessel tax in California and to make certain the full value of their next aircraft, vehicle or vessel goes into their pocket--not the government's. They have successfully filed hundreds of tax returns with the California State Board of Equalization. Mr. Alston has also published many articles on sales and use tax. His blog can be seen at http://www.taxmattersblog.com.

 

Aero & Marine Tax Professionals Get Aircraft Tax Exemption for TV Production Company

TV Production Company Very Pleased With Sales Tax Exemption on Aircraft Purchase

SACRMENTO, CA: Aero & Marine Tax Professionals (http://www.aeromarinetaxpros.com) have assisted a TV production company in securing a sales tax exemption from the California Board of Equalization on the purchase of a PA-46-310P Malibu aircraft.

An executive from the company stated: “I'm in the TV production business, and I do a lot of TV production throughout the states of Nevada, Arizona, California, and New Mexico. The locations we film at are primarily places that commercial airlines just don't go to. We just couldn't do it in a commercial setting.”

“The experience with Aero & Marine Tax Pros was incredibly simple, professional, and most importantly, successful! Everything went smoothly, their staff was in constant communication and updating what I needed to do each month to get you the documentation. I would absolutely recommend Aero & Marine Tax Pros to others. I would actually make the argument that anyone that does not seek out and find these services is making a mistake, and then not specifically using Aero & Marine is making a secondary mistake. A lot of pilots think that there is only one way to get out of having to pay the California state taxes, and that is that you have to base your aircraft in another state for 12 months. They're not aware of this interstate tax exemption route, none of the pilots are aware of this option. It's getting the word out that you don't have to leave your plane out of the state for a year.”

Aero & Marine Tax Professionals is a pre-eminent tax firm specializing in aircraft and vessel purchases. The company helps individuals and corporations avoid paying California sales and use taxes when buying an airplane or vessel. Their unique knowledge and expertise has resulted in regular referrals from attorneys and accountants throughout the nation.

Tom Alston, owner and founder of the company, stated “We want people to be aware of the consequences of dealing with the California Board of Equalization, because in many cases a person who may have been expecting a sales tax exemption finds they do not qualify. When a client follows our instructions to the letter, we can guarantee that sales tax exemption on the purchase of an aircraft.”

Aero & Marine Tax Professionals shows purchasers how to avoid sales tax, specifically how to avoid aircraft tax and vessel tax in California and to make certain the full value of their next aircraft, vehicle or vessel goes into their pocket--not the government's. They have successfully filed hundreds of tax returns with the California State Board of Equalization. Mr. Alston has also published many articles on sales and use tax. His blog can be seen at http://www.taxmattersblog.com.

 

Aero & Marine Tax Professionals Win Case For Tax Exemption On Jet

Real Estate Firm Gets Tax Exemption On Jet Thanks To Aero & Marine Tax Professionals


SACRAMENTO, CA: Aero & Marine Tax Professionals (http://www.aeromarinetaxpros.com), a firm specializing in sales tax on aircraft and marine vessels in the state of California, recently helped a real estate agent and real estate development company obtain a sales tax exemption on a Cessna jet from the California Board Of Equalization, this most recent case that maintains their perfect record.

An executive from the real estate company stated: “The business use of the aircraft is to look for business opportunities outside of California in real estate and real estate development. Sometimes we would be looking at multiple properties over multiple days, and it would be problematic to run that around an airline schedule. The jet is fuel-efficient. The parts are readily available and Cessna has multiple service centers across the country. In working with Aero & Marine Tax Professionals, I always received calls back in a timely manner. They were professional, and very competent, very knowledgeable and very fast.”

Tom Alston, president of the company, stated: “Well we pride ourselves on efficiency. That is really the difference between when we go in on a case versus someone who doesn’t know this field, doesn’t have experience working with the California Board Of Equalization. We have, so we can be efficient at it, and that’s why our case record is perfect.”

Aero & Marine Tax Professionals shows purchasers how to avoid sales tax, specifically how to avoid aircraft tax and vessel tax in California and to make certain the full value of their next aircraft, vehicle or vessel goes into their pocket--not the government's. They have successfully filed hundreds of tax returns with the California State Board of Equalization. Mr. Alston has also published many articles on sales and use tax.

 

A Subtle Form of Theft-Simon Black at SovereignMan.com

I received this information from a trusted source. I follow Simon Black at  Sovereign Man, you should also.

Notes from the Field 

Date: December 5, 2011
Reporting From: Santiago, Chile

 

Say what you want about him, but Bernie Madoff was a guy who knew how to keep the party going. For years, he ran one of the largest private-sector Ponzi schemes in history and always heeded the golden rule of financial scams: make sure your inflows are greater than your outflows.

He was finally done in when redemptions exceeded new investments. He didn't have enough cash to pay out investors, and he wasn't able to scam more people into paying in to the scheme. As a result, Madoff finally had to admit that the whole thing was a total fraud. 

Governments around the world are in similar situations right now with their own public sector Ponzi schemes. Faced with failed auctions, declining demand, and rising yields, politicians are having to resort to desperate measures.

Like any good scam artist, they're appealing to the masses first; all over Europe, governments are sponsoring new marketing campaigns suggesting that it's people's patriotic duty to buy government debt.

In Spain, they're actually issuing instruments called 'Bonos Patrioticos,' or 'patriotic bonds.' Ad campaigns say that the bonds are "good for you, good for the future." 

In Ireland, they've issued "Prize Bonds" which carry a 0% interest rate; instead of receiving interest, bondholders are entered into a weekly lottery contest.  Naturally, lottery winnings are only possible as long as people keep buying the bonds... pretty much the definition of a Ponzi scheme!

In Italy, they're rolling out the country's sports celebrities to encourage everyone to buy Italian sovereign debt. 

What's ironic is that Italy's dismal balance sheet is almost universally acknowledged. It's as if everyone knows the country has almost no chance of making good on its obligations, but they still feel the need to willingly throw away their hard earned savings for the greater good of political incompetence.

Thing is, it's not the millionaire sports stars, wealthy business leaders, or political elite who are buying these bonds... at least, not in anything beyond a token, symbolic amount. It's the average guy on the street who really stands to get hurt when the government finally capitulates.

This is a truly despicable act and amounts to theft, plain and simple. 

The United Kingdom, which is rapidly reaching this banana republic sovereign debt status itself, has unveiled a plan to issue roughly $50 billion in infrastructure bonds. This would be the equivalent of issuing $300 billion in the US-- not exactly chump change. 

Given Britain's already colossal debt level, private investors aren't exact diving in head first to loan the government even more money. 

Undeterred, British Chancellor George Osborne plans to 'highly encourage' UK pension funds to mop up about 60% of the total amount. "We have got to make sure that British savings in things like pension funds are employed here and British taxpayers' money is well used," he said.

In other words, 'we are going to make sure that British people buy our junk, one way or another.' 

The last year has seen numerous pension funds around the world, from the United States to Argentina to Hungary, be raided for the sake of keeping these Ponzi scheme going.  The UK is already lining up to be the next. 

It's one of the last acts of a truly desperate government to begin directing public and private savings into their Ponzi schemes. 

Fast-forward a few downgrades and you can plan on seeing the exact same thing in the United States-- appealing to people's patriotism to loan their hard-earned savings (if they even have any) to the Federal government at a rate of interest that fails to keep up with inflation.

It's nothing more than a very clever (and subtle) form of theft. 

 

Until tomorrow,

Simon Black
Senior Editor, SovereignMan.com

 

    

 

Aero & Marine Tax Pros Win Difficult Tax Exemption Case

Previously Exempt Plane Gets Taxed, Expert Tax Firm Able To Reverse Decision

SACRAMENTO, CA: Aero & Marine Tax Professionals (http://www.aeromarinetaxpros.com), a tax specialist firm in the field of aircraft and marine vessel tax located in California, reversed the finding recently in a California Board Of Equalization case against an aircraft being charged a tax that it was previously exempted from. The aircraft belonged to Rainbow Air Charter, who had previously worked with Aero & Marine Tax Professionals to obtain a tax exemption on the plane, and turned to the firm again in this recent turn of events.

The difficulty came about when a plane owned by the company was destroyed on the runway mid take off, which Rainbow Air Charter had attempted to gain a tax exemption on it, but they had been unsuccessful in their efforts. Upon discovering the fact that the plane was damaged beyond repair, the California Board of Equalization placed a tax lien on another plane the company owned, which had already received a tax exemption.

The company’s Director of Operations, Mr. Grimmet, stated: “From that point on, Aero & Marine Tax Professionals’ office asked me for various documents in order to obtain the exemption on the plane which was destroyed. So we had to go backwards and find an exemption on a plane that had been destroyed in order to take the lien off a plane that had been exempted.”

“I can tell you that I made the attempt do the exemption myself. This was an example of why amateurs should not be attempting tax exemptions themselves. I had been trying. I had used Aero & Marine Tax Professionals over the last ten years, and I thought that I could do it myself. I didn't have the required expertise, even though it was entirely legitimate. I want to let everyone know about how Aero & Marine handled this for me, and if anyone wants to know more, I would be happy to talk to them.”

Thomas Alston, founder of the tax firm, stated: “It was a very tricky case. The state of California is looking hard for revenue and is taking a more aggressive stance with some of these cases. That’s why you need to go to the experts.”

8 reasons to ALWAYS pay sales/use tax

by Tom Alston

1. You are a politician and would get recalled if you were discovered to be not paying your fair share.

2. You are a private citizen and you believe politicians can do a better job spending the money than you can.

3. The tax is nothing but petty cash to you and you don’t want to do the extra paperwork required to legally avoid the tax.

4. Your corporation is doing well and you don’t want to be attacked by the White House for being a “corporate jet owner”.

5. You are timid and can’t face a tax auditor.

6. Your wife will nag you for taking a “risk”.

7. You got such good deal on your aircraft you feel like you should share something with the government.

8. Although the Supreme Court of the United States of America has affirmed your right to legally avoid tax you still think it is illegal.

Aero & Marine Tax Professionals Win Case For Tax Exemption On Jet

Real Estate Firm Gets Tax Exemption On Jet Thanks To Aero & Marine Tax Professionals

SACRAMENTO, CA: Aero & Marine Tax Professionals (http://www.aeromarinetaxpros.com), a firm specializing in sales tax on aircraft and marine vessels in the state of California, recently helped a real estate agent and real estate development company obtain a sales tax exemption on a Cessna jet from the California Board Of Equalization, this most recent case that maintains their perfect record.

An executive from the real estate company stated: “The business use of the aircraft is to look for business opportunities outside of California in real estate and real estate development. Sometimes we would be looking at multiple properties over multiple days, and it would be problematic to run that around an airline schedule. The jet is fuel-efficient. The parts are readily available and Cessna has multiple service centers across the country. In working with Aero & Marine Tax Professionals, I always received calls back in a timely manner. They were professional, and very competent, very knowledgeable and very fast.”

Tom Alston, president of the company, stated: “Well, we pride ourselves on efficiency. That is really the difference between when we go in on a case versus someone who doesn’t know this field, doesn’t have experience working with the California Board Of Equalization. We have, so we can be efficient at it, and that’s why our case record is perfect.”

Aero & Marine Tax Professionals shows purchasers how to avoid sales tax, specifically how to avoid aircraft tax and vessel tax in California and to make certain the full value of their next aircraft, vehicle or vessel goes into their pocket--not the government's. They have successfully filed hundreds of tax returns with the California State Board of Equalization. Mr. Alston has also published many articles on sales and use tax.