Panamanian Tax Shelters: As American as Standard Oil

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_MeDotOrg
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Panamanian Tax Shelters: As American as Standard Oil

Post by _MeDotOrg »

Panamanian Ship Registry, the largest in the world, is another tax dodge, enabling foreign ships to register in Panama and not pay the taxes of their home country.

The laws were changed in the 1920's at the behest of American corporations. The first foreign ships registered were American vessels wanting to serve liquor during Prohibition.

WGRZ in Miami wrote:The Central American country took its first step into that shady world nearly 100 years ago, when the government first allowed foreign companies to register foreign ships, according to a report from the Norwegian Center for Taxation. That move was designed to help Rockefeller's Standard Oil avoid taxes in the U.S., and set the stage for a 1927 law that allowed foreigners to establish tax-free, anonymous corporations with few questions asked, according to the report.

A U.S. Customs Agent wrote wrote:The country is filled with dishonest lawyers, dishonest bankers, dishonest company formation agents and dishonest companies registered there by those dishonest lawyers so that they can deposit dirty money into their dishonest banks. The Free Trade Zone is the black hole through which Panama has become one of the filthiest money laundering sinks in the world.
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_ajax18
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Re: Panamanian Tax Shelters: As American as Standard Oil

Post by _ajax18 »

We all know this. But what can you do about it?
And when the confederates saw Jackson standing fearless as a stone wall the army of Northern Virginia took courage and drove the federal army off their land.
_Some Schmo
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Re: Panamanian Tax Shelters: As American as Standard Oil

Post by _Some Schmo »

ajax18 wrote:We all know this. But what can you do about it?

The more we talk about it, the more it becomes a standard feature of social consciousness, and eventually, that alone will exert pressure to change the laws.

That's the idea, anyway.
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_ajax18
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Re: Panamanian Tax Shelters: As American as Standard Oil

Post by _ajax18 »

It's not like our votes matter to a foreign country that serves as a tax haven. I suppose we could talk about it in Spanish but somehow I don't think that would get much traction either.
And when the confederates saw Jackson standing fearless as a stone wall the army of Northern Virginia took courage and drove the federal army off their land.
_Some Schmo
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Re: Panamanian Tax Shelters: As American as Standard Oil

Post by _Some Schmo »

Yeah, I don't know. This is one of those issues I try to avoid thinking about too much, because it highlights how impotent I am in effecting large-scale change.
God belief is for people who don't want to live life on the universe's terms.
_cinepro
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Re: Panamanian Tax Shelters: As American as Standard Oil

Post by _cinepro »

Most ships that come to ports in America, including Cruise Ships, aren't American owned because of our punitive shipping laws.

http://www.cruiselawnews.com/2011/09/ar ... r-us-port/

As always, the law (Merchant Marine Act) had good intentions but instead has proved tremendously costly and punitive without providing the intended benefits.
_ajax18
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Re: Panamanian Tax Shelters: As American as Standard Oil

Post by _ajax18 »

As always, the law (Merchant Marine Act) had good intentions but instead has proved tremendously costly and punitive without providing the intended benefits.


Amen!
And when the confederates saw Jackson standing fearless as a stone wall the army of Northern Virginia took courage and drove the federal army off their land.
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