"That reasoning goes a bit too far. I take it you're one of those folks who
figures it's all right to evade income tax by skimming the receipts from
the
cash register, because the bureaucrats would just misuse the money anyway."

YES! Say it loud and proud! YES, YES, YES! F'm. I hate paying taxes,
expecially when I know the money is going down a big huge
empty hole. My money so some Arab who hates me can have electricity? No
thanks. My money so someone who is so stupid that he/she owned a home below
the water level of a levee down the street but didn't see fit to purchase
flood insurance?

I truly wish a movement got started so that every American just didn't even
file his/her income tax. Then what would the likes of Ted Kennedy do?

As to the bad behavior example; ever hear of the Boston Tea Party? Kinda
bad behavior, wouldn't ya say.

As to the sales tax example. You answered my argument for me. Where does
the boat sales tax money go? Who knows? The government takes it and puts
it in a "general fund". What percentage of that "general fund" goes for
boating related issues? Almost nothing. The money is spent on wasteful
nonsense.

What I don't understand is how American keeps going. We are broke, on
paper. If it weren't for China buying all our debt we would be standing in
donut lines.

You may think that this Republic is the greatest. Not me. As far as I am
concerned the American I grew up in has disappeared. We are a corrupt joke
of a country on the precipice of falling into the "Was a great power"
category.

Go ahead , just keeping throwing money to the local, state, federal
government. Give them more, more, more, more, more, more, more. ......
they need it for the next Katrina.

Or to build a tennis club in Iraq.

Not me..





"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 31 Jan 2007 18:12:07 GMT, "NE Sailboat"
said:

Dave ,, why do you refer to smart business practices as a "scam"?

There is nothing wrong with trying to avoid taxes. In fact, when it comes
to boats .. I think it is crazy not to avoid taxes.

I fully agree with a well-known quote from, Judge Learned Hand:

"[A] transaction, otherwise within an exception of the tax law, does not
lose its immunity, because it is actuated by a desire to
avoid,.....taxation. Any one may so arrange his affairs that his taxes
shall
be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will
best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase
one's
taxes."

Problem is that people tend to ignore the first part of the sentence--the
part about "otherwise within the exception of the tax law." I referred to
the incorporating/documenting as a scam because it wasn't tax avoidance.
It
was tax evasion. The tax was legally due, and people tried to pull the
wool
over the tax authorities' eyes by not leaving a paper trail that the
authorities could easily find.

What does the state do with all the sales taxes it collects from the poor
boaters?

I dunno. Does it keep collections from the poor boaters in a separate
kitty
from collections from the rich ones? Must be a pretty small kitty.

Does it use this money to improve the harbors? Or add docking
areas? Nope, it takes this money and ****es it down the drain. Some fat
ass crook will get the money.

Screw that.

That reasoning goes a bit too far. I take it you're one of those folks who
figures it's all right to evade income tax by skimming the receipts from
the
cash register, because the bureaucrats would just misuse the money anyway.

If the government is so concerned with collecting taxes, why does it let
corporations such as Canival Cruise Line operate here almost exclusively
yet
have all their boats registered offshore?

An argument sometimes called trying to justify bad behavior by pointing at
other bad behavior.