Multiple F1 Drivers Seen in Panama Papers Leaks.

"Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis" (Dwhite95)
04/04/2016 at 14:34 • Filed to: None

This leak is just insane, but I’ll keep it car related

DISCUSSION (14)

The Ghost of Oppo > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/04/2016 at 14:41

I think the crazy part will be when it’s realized that a majority of the public doesn’t really care/aren’t surprised that a bunch rich and powerful people are doing shady shit with their money.

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > The Ghost of Oppo
04/04/2016 at 14:42

I’m not exactly surprised that it happening, I’m just surprised by the actual scale of it all.

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/04/2016 at 14:59

Just because people have their money there doesn’t mean it’s bad or illegal. I’d wager most of the actions taken are completely legal but unethical. But, clearly that doesn’t matter in the famed court of public opinion.

It’s the same as when politicians complain that companies/the wealthy “hide” their money offshore. What they are doing is perfectly legal under US tax law. They are paying the legal minimum required by law. People seem to thinking they are cheating the system.

SVTyler > Biggus Dickus (RevsBro)
04/04/2016 at 15:07

Have you read up on what exactly the people in the Panama Papers are being accused of? Someone on Reddit explained it pretty well:

In business, you can avoid taxes by investing in something. If a company makes one million dollars, but spends 500,000 on investing in new technology for their product or something like that, they’re only taxed from the remaining 500,000 because that’s all of their “profit.” (I’m not a businessman so I’m not sure on the complete legality of all the kinds of spending but I think this is a basic summary). This is all normal and fine; all companies require investing in order to grow their company.

So a company in Panama basically made a business in creating fake businesses. Companies could “invest” million of dollars and then it wouldn’t be taxed, because according to legal documents it isn’t profit, it’s an “investment,” which is untaxable, and then they would get their money back from the fake business. So imagine if that $500,000 of investments from my above example was fake, and after awhile 90% of the money was given back to the business (I’m assuming the Panamian company took a cut of the money as payment).

That’s not hating on the rich, that’s by definition illegal tax evasion and that’s why this is such a big deal. These companies and individuals have potentially avoided trillions of dollars in taxes using shell companies and now there’s 2.6tb of proof of what they did.

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > SVTyler
04/04/2016 at 15:15

1) I wouldn’t trust reddit for a translation of Tax law.

2) However, if that is the case this is seems more like Money Laundering.

3) As long as the redistributions don’t exceed the initial investment, it would be considered a return of capital and wouldn’t be taxed anyway. Investment is the wrong term in this case. Investments are never tax deductible (like i said, dont trust reddit for tax/financial explanations). These cash flows would have to be classified as(for example) Research and Development to be tax deductible. If that is the case, then, yes, it would be tax evasion/fraud.

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > Biggus Dickus (RevsBro)
04/04/2016 at 15:22

Money laundering is one of the most major claims here. There are claims that many people are invested in non-existant properties or business within Panama and the law firm assisted in the creation of the documents to do so.

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis
04/04/2016 at 15:26

That was my thought as stated above. Although, money Laundering and tax evasion often go hand in hand.

SVTyler > Biggus Dickus (RevsBro)
04/04/2016 at 15:31

The Economist and the BBC are saying the same thing, I just used Reddit because they had a good explanation for those not well-versed in tax law (investment isn’t entirely the right word, I know). Judging by the news outlet’s reports and what I can ascertain the Panama Papers show widespread money laundering and tax evasion beyond what could be considered legal methods via shell companies created by the law firm.

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > SVTyler
04/04/2016 at 15:35

I agree to an extent. I’m certainly not surpised this is happenning. It’s borderline ignorant to be surprised by this. From what I read in the WSJ this morning there has been a surprising lack of US figures on this list. I will actually be surprised if that doesn’t change.

SVTyler > Biggus Dickus (RevsBro)
04/04/2016 at 15:52

I’m honestly not surprised either (save for, as you mentioned, the lack of American companies and individuals) but considering the response of both the media and public it seems like a lot of people have no idea just how deep the rabbithole can go. Hell, my Facebook feed is full of “omg how can governments let this happen” type posts from very educated friends of mine. Guess some people just don’t pay attention.

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > SVTyler
04/04/2016 at 16:00

Same logic pisses me off when people scream for blindly raising taxes and tightening tax laws. They don’t realize it is a double edged sword that will encourage more evasion and money Laundering.

IMO, the only beneficial solution at the moment is comprehensive tax reform.

SVTyler > Biggus Dickus (RevsBro)
04/04/2016 at 16:22

Yeah it’s a shame because that’s really the only realistic solution, but unlikely considering how either side of the aisle likes to use either raising or lowering taxes as cornerstones for their election promises. Getting into the minutiae of the tax code isn’t nearly as sexy as crusading against big business or a tyrannical money-grubbing government.

Biggus Dickus (RevsBro) > SVTyler
04/04/2016 at 16:28

They call it pandering to the masses for a reason. Sad thing is, the masses usually don’t know what is best for them.

SVTyler > Biggus Dickus (RevsBro)
04/04/2016 at 17:01

It makes you wonder what the U.S. political landscape would look like if educated voters showed up instead of mostly people voting party lines or who got their info solely from Fox News or MSNBC or political ads. Gotta appeal to the lowest common denominator to get elected, though, which explains why we’re having so many problems now...