QUESTION: Hello Martin, [Analyst} recently …. raise[d] the alarm that the US is headed towards a very bad debt crisis. During an interesting part of the segment, he was asked if the rich should pay higher taxes, and he said “of course”, but he clarifies that what really matters is whether the tax dollars are […]

We are beginning to witness the impact of state taxes on decision making. California’s high taxes led to the San Francisco Giants losing Bryce Harper to the Philadelphia Phillies. The 26-year-old professional baseball star agreed to a 13-year, $330 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies because the bottom line net of what California would take was insane. I know […]

COMMENT: Marty…: My respected Australian broker in Sydney, to my horror today, has, for the first time, just asked me to supply the USA Internal Revenue Service with my Tax File Number because of a new requirement in the W8-ben form, otherwise he advises me that I will run the risk that they may withhold 30 […]

  The politicians have a golden rule. When the courts prevent them from raising a tax, they call it something else to impose it. Massachusetts, the bastion of political Marxism, attempted to put on the ballot a new millionaire tax. That was rejected on constitutional grounds by the Supreme Judicial Court. So what are they […]

COMMENT: Hi, Hunt for taxes is running full scale in Scandinavia. In Sweden, all vehicles including foreign registered vehicles, are obliged to pay congestion taxes in Stockholm and Gothenburg as well as infrastructure charges in Motala and Sundsvall. Sometimes, the automatic camera system reads the license plate falsely and few people in Finland have gotten monthly […]

QUESTION: I get up in the morning, make coffee and read your blog. Thank you for your service to humanity. Ok, so the Democrats want to go back to the 1950’s with 70% tax rates. Does that also mean they’ll reinstate the same deductions that were available back then? For example, passive activity loss rules would […]

  Taxes have begun to cross the point of no return in New York City. New York City is losing its middle class faster than at any time since the Great Depression. While the rich get richer from investments and the poor get richer from increased social benefits, the loser is always the middle class. The […]

The commentary that has appeared in Forbes calls for the only solution is to outlaw pensions. This is actually what will happen. Because there is no resolution, the government pensions will demand to raise taxes and then there is never any reform in government so the end game is one major economic confrontation – the […]

It really is very astonishing how brain-dead politicians are. The latest stats are showing that residents are increasingly fleeing New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. The perpetually rising taxes are just getting insane. We just received this notice ourselves about taxes due in California. Apparently, they must have subpoenaed Amazon to see who has merchandise they are storing […]

COMMENT: My sister lives in Chicago. She is looking to leave finally. She told me there is a 9% tax on any amusement like Netflix or PlayStation for her son. You are right. They keep finding things to tax rather than address the problem. This cannot be maintained forever. OT REPLY: This is what happens. […]