Many Americans hear about very high income tax rates in the Euro zone countries. Tax revenues, as a share of the gross national product depends upon equally high tax-collection rates too. What many Americans are not aware of is the Euro zone's high tax noncompliance described as a range of activities that are unfavorable to a state's tax system. These include tax avoidance, which refers to reducing taxes by legal means, and tax evasion which refers to the criminal non-payment of tax liabilities.
Greece had a 33.2% tax-compliance rate in 2010 according to Eurostat. A 2007 U.S. Government Accounting Office (GAO) study showed a compliance rate of 84% in the United States. The GAO explanation in the American case is likely a matter of cultural norm rather than the amount of taxation. (F.Y.I., Russia has a 17% tax-compliance rate in spite of a low 15% flat tax. Why? Read on.)
An important caveat: A tax-compliance rate does not equal a tax-collection rate. Greeks, by contrast, see fraud and corruption as ubiquitous in business, in the tax system, and even in sports. Transparency International recently put Greece in a three-way tie, with Bulgaria and Romania, as the most corrupt country in Europe... And the U.S. is bailing Greece out... Say Huh?
So around the world, due to the class warfare of haves and have-nots, social and religious status distinction dividing groups and civil rights not rooted equally among the different populations, a public and private distrust pervades the societies which develop into "us against them" politics.
Class warfare works counterproductive to mutual societal cooperation that leads to a totalitarian state control that encourages fighting within the citizenry in order to justify its very existence. Hello U.S. socialism? Think hard: Which politician is pushing hard to create a new "middle-class" warfare to divide the U.S. citizenry over taxes right now today?
Unfortunately, most Americans are truly unaware of the over-bloated government programs and pensions in the Greek financial debacle. More important, how many Greeks receive the benefits anyway and have not paid their "fair share" of taxes at all. Hmnn.... who uses that term all the time here in the U.S.?
Why should Americans care since it is "overseas" or about Greece, a foreign country? Two reasons: One, the United States Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner negotiated with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for U.S. backed loans to prop up the Euro zone countries. Two, U.S. bail-out IMF fund guarantees for when Greece first collapsed and others as they later default. Also, look out after our U.S. Elections for Timothy Geithner to leave and his replacement to continue on with these U.S. guarantees backing more Euro zone economic ruinations by printing more dollar bills... err, "quantitative easing" as they say.
Tax-evasion becomes pervasive because of class warfare since "the folks" think they are getting screwed by the "big guys", whether it's rich people or politicians. No matter though... it seems that higher rates of taxation increases the incentive for avoiding taxes, especially if a middle class earned income tax level is added or increased in the tax tables, capital gains tax increased or treated as earned income, the home mortgage interest deduction is eliminated and a national sales tax (VAT) is levied. By the way, all of these proposals are on the Congressional agenda for the U.S.Taxpayer Budget in 2013.
The lie: We can tax "the rich" to fill government coffers. Liberals draw from that conclusion it is about withheld revenue, not excessive spending, is the problem.
The truth: If "the folks" look into any mirror they'll recognize who really are the "big guys". It's just "the folks" that demand more from politicians in the government for benefits and that all comes out of "the folk's" own pockets in the end... Duh!
~ REMEMBER...
VOTE Nov 6, 2012! ~