| zzzing ( @ 2008-07-01 11:03:00 |
Increasing the cost of switching
http://www.mainstreet.com/theres-law-ta kes-away-money-if-you-leave-us-citizensh ip
I tend to think that the high cost of switching governments is the main thing that gives the state its power, and if you decrease that cost, governments will be more swayed by the market. So if the cost were zero or close to it, all governments would be doing everything they can to make citizens happy and want to live in their jurisdiction. Increase the cost, and governments have more power to do things that citizens don't like; since each citizen has to weigh the cost of leaving against the various things they don't like about the government. The scales just tipped a little bit more in the wrong direction.
http://www.mainstreet.com/theres-law-ta
"Congress just passed a new law that will stop your capital -- or at least a good portion of it -- at the border, should you decide not to be a U.S. citizen anymore. Is it, perhaps, in preparation for the possibility that Americans might rebel at the debt and taxes incurred by their government by leaving for lower-tax locales?
You probably didn't notice this little provision inserted into the Heroes Act of 2008, passed by Congress on June 17. The headlines in the press release about the law were about the increased benefits for veterans and families of deceased military.
But Richard Kohan of Price WaterhouseCoopers drew my attention to one section of the act, which states that anyone voluntarily giving up his or her citizenship will be taxed on all of his assets as if he or she had sold them -- paying capital gains on assets that have increased in value, even though they have not been sold.
That's right. While everyone in the media is focused on keeping aliens out of America, Congress has voted to lock its citizens - or at least a good portion of their assets -- into America! Maybe they're thinking that patriotism won't be enough to keep the smart money from recognizing the coming increases in the tax burden."
I tend to think that the high cost of switching governments is the main thing that gives the state its power, and if you decrease that cost, governments will be more swayed by the market. So if the cost were zero or close to it, all governments would be doing everything they can to make citizens happy and want to live in their jurisdiction. Increase the cost, and governments have more power to do things that citizens don't like; since each citizen has to weigh the cost of leaving against the various things they don't like about the government. The scales just tipped a little bit more in the wrong direction.