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Comment by mikeyouse | Hacker News Reader

A notable quote from Jean-Claude Juncker, the former Prime Minister of Luxembourg:

> No one has ever been able to make a convincing and thorough case to me that Luxembourg is a tax haven. Luxembourg employs tax rules that are in full accordance with European law. [1]

I wonder how such blatant tax evasion becomes legalized?

Oh right:

> The new European Commission formally takes office on Saturday under [new President] Jean-Claude Juncker ... [2]

[1] - https://twitter.com/dimits_/status/530105602312515584/photo/...

[2] - http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/juncker-s-eu-commi...

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When it becomes a viable business model for a nation-state?

There is no virtue in paying tax. Why do people think that paying taxes is a good thing tax evasion through legal means is bad ?

It is government's responsibility to run the state by stealing as little as possible. At the current rate US government is stealing our money to provide welfare to mostly irresponsible and lazy people.

Given that you use the word "stealing" to refer to a govrernment's collection of taxes we probably won't agree on this issue. Taxes in the U.S. are at mult-decade lows. At least as of 2012. Taxation was around 15 - 16% GDP. The vast majority of federal taxation is not used to provide welfare to irresponsible and lazy people. Note that Social Security and Medicare are not entitlement programs.

Do you believe the U.S. is overtaxed? What percent of GDP should be taxed in order to fund government operations? Do you have specific programs in mind and, most importantly, do you know what percent of the budget is used for these programs you'd like to cut?

I believe the middle class is overtaxed. 35% of my paycheck is taken by State and Federal taxes here in the Bay Area. I can't afford assets that would generate capital gains or a tax accountant for a clever tax avoidance scheme, so I'm paying all out.

This ruffles my feathers, so I'll be voting against any tax increases or bond measures (that may cause us to raise taxes later).

In Zug, Switzerland they have an excellent health care system with universal coverage. They also have very nice roads and a high standard of living, and low unemployment. They also have a strong defense based on armed neutrality, which kept them out of both world wars.

The income tax is 2%.

So if you are paying more than that, you are probably getting ripped off.

Zug? Really? The town that has more companies than citizens? Something tells me that their city isn't run via personal income tax, something else tells me that their tax policies won't scale globally...

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2008/may/31/taxavoidance...

You think 60% in taxes scales better than 2%?

Most of those things are inherent to Switzerland not the Kanton.

Zug is very bad example. It has a 2015 deficit of 140 Million almost double of last year, they have to cut deep into their savings [1]. The Kanton is destroying itself and will be forced to raise taxes eventually. [2]

[1] http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/schweiz/standard/Kanton-Zug-rech...

[2] http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/schweiz/standard/Warum-Zug-und-S...

Yes we disagree on the fact that taxation is stealing. Social Security and Medicare are one of the worst form of taxation.

Because only the rich can evade taxes in this way. Which means the middle class ends up paying a disproportionate amount of tax. Which is unfair.

If you think being fair is pulling those are better off down then I have nothing to argue with you.

I don't know why I'm trying, but here we go:

Personal virtues are characteristics valued as promoting collective and individual greatness. The opposite of virtue is vice.[1]

[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtue

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