Singapore as a tax haven

[metalmickey]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/neerjaj...loads-of-money-singapore-walks-the-tightrope/

Sometimes I wonder how many people think deeply about what the real problem in Singapore is. The PAP is a big problem, but I'm not even sure they are the masters of their fate.

I wonder how many people draw the direct connection between how taxes are made really low for all these people coming to Singapore, and the hefty amounts that people have to pay for their COEs and HDB flats.

Maybe it would be more constructive, instead of sitting back and complaining about the govt, to try to find all these tax cheats, all these foreign talents turning Singapore upside down, publicise their names, and help them get the fuck out of this place. It is very useful to turn the screws on the PAP, but the other end of the pincer movement would be to squeeze these people as well.

 

[Dreamer1]

"However, bankers are not bandits."BUT THEY ARE CHEATS,MOST OF THEM,THEIR END TIME IS COMING REAL SOON-NESARA.

 

[Leongsam]

Maybe it would be more constructive, instead of sitting back and complaining about the govt, to try to find all these tax cheats, all these foreign talents turning Singapore upside down, publicise their names, and help them get the fuck out of this place. It is very useful to turn the screws on the PAP, but the other end of the pincer movement would be to squeeze these people as well.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with people trying to avoid paying taxes. Why should the rich be robbed of their hard earned money so that it can be handed over to useless layabouts who contribute nothing to the economy.

Tax is nothing more than legalised theft. It's no different from the so called legalised corruption that Singaporeans are always harping about.

 

[metalmickey]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with people trying to avoid paying taxes. Why should the rich be robbed of their hard earned money so that it can be handed over to useless layabouts who contribute nothing to the economy.

Tax is nothing more than legalised theft. It's no different from the so called legalised corruption that Singaporeans are always harping about.

Yeh but:

1. Who pays the tax? I'd rather you tax the people who can afford to pay it. You think that the poor people in Singapore do not work hard? They'd work hard, and after all that they still get robbed of whatever little they own.
2. I don't mind people coming over to my country if they think it's a great place to do business. But if they're coming in for no other reason than to avoid paying taxes in their home country then they should fuck off.
3. People like to say that a lot of the bullshit that goes on in the last 20 years is down to the govt. In many ways that's true but the way that things have changed is that the govt is less powerful than before and more in thrall to the rich and powerful. So hopefully the govt starts kicking their asses for once. So that we won't have to do it ourselves, burning down their houses, and guillotining them in the streets.

 

[Leongsam]

Yeh but:

1. Who pays the tax? I'd rather you tax the people who can afford to pay it. You think that the poor people in Singapore do not work hard? They'd work hard, and after all that they still get robbed of whatever little they own.
2. I don't mind people coming over to my country if they think it's a great place to do business. But if they're coming in for no other reason than to avoid paying taxes in their home country then they should fuck off.
3. People like to say that a lot of the bullshit that goes on in the last 20 years is down to the govt. In many ways that's true but the way that things have changed is that the govt is less powerful than before and more in thrall to the rich and powerful. So hopefully the govt starts kicking their asses for once. So that we won't have to do it ourselves, burning down their houses, and guillotining them in the streets.

I have no problems with a flat tax regime. It's fair to all.

However, punishing the enterprising and resourceful with ridiculously high taxes is no way to run a country.

 

[metalmickey]

I have no problems with a flat tax regime. It's fair to all.

However, punishing the enterprising and resourceful with ridiculously high taxes is no way to run a country.

Most of the rich people here are second or third generation wealth. They had parents or grandparents who were wealthy, and got them where they were. They're sitting on monopolies and they don't always have to work hard to keep the money flowing in. (Of course there are exceptions.) They're just owning a few properties and making a big killing when the prices go through the roof. Yeh - tell me that takes a lot of effort. And somehow the govt lets them get away with it.

And then when the taxman comes, those people can always hide under the petticoats of the genuine entrepreneurs and say "you're going to kill the economy if you tax the businesses". Well we could start by hanging a few of those kulaks and absentee landlords in public and I don't think Singapore's going to be badly off if we were short of a few of those parasites. Right now, everybody's happy, everybody's pointing their fingers at the govt and saying everything's their fault. Wait until the people find out the truth!

 

[Leongsam]

Most of the rich people here are second or third generation wealth. They had parents or grandparents who were wealthy, and got them where they were. They're sitting on monopolies and they don't always have to work hard to keep the money flowing in. (Of course there are exceptions.) They're just owning a few properties and making a big killing when the prices go through the roof. Yeh - tell me that takes a lot of effort. And somehow the govt lets them get away with it.

And then when the taxman comes, those people can always hide under the petticoats of the genuine entrepreneurs and say "you're going to kill the economy if you tax the businesses". Well we could start by hanging a few of those kulaks and absentee landlords in public and I don't think Singapore's going to be badly off if we were short of a few of those parasites. Right now, everybody's happy, everybody's pointing their fingers at the govt and saying everything's their fault. Wait until the people find out the truth!

It's their money. Nobody has the right to take it away from them.

If tax regimes are permitted to strip people of their wealth, the whole concept of property rights and ownership goes out of the window.

You drive a Merc and I ride bicycle. The government confiscates your Merc and gives you a Nissan as a replacement. The difference is handed over to me so I can buy a Proton Saga.

You call that fair?

 

[greedy and cunning]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with people trying to avoid paying taxes. Why should the rich be robbed of their hard earned money so that it can be handed over to useless layabouts who contribute nothing to the economy.

stop sprouting nonsense.
those who are rich usually do not have to work HARD to get there.
bill gate worked very HARD to be a billionaire ?
those arab sheiks worked very very HARD to be billionaire ?
peter lim worked very HARD ?
they were just LUCKY to be in the right place , at the right time , with the right job and connections.

 

[metalmickey]

It's their money. Nobody has the right to take it away from them.

If tax regimes are permitted to strip people of their wealth, the whole concept of property rights and ownership goes out of the window.

You drive a Merc and I ride bicycle. The government confiscates your Merc and gives you a Nissan as a replacement. The difference is handed over to me so I can buy a Proton Saga.

You call that fair?

Yeah. I'm not one of those assholes who absolutely has to have a merc. I've driven a merc, I've driven a nissan. It's not as big a difference as one might think. The only difference is with a merc more people want to suck your dick.

I might hold on to that merc if I got it fair and square. But that's pretty unlikely. You know what our govt is like. We hate competition. Singapore is a small place. There ain't enough room for all of us. Everything - everything is a monopoly. You pay the rent and you think that it's corporate profits. But it really is tax because the gahment either owns everything or they know somebody who owns everything. It's no use differentiating between private and public. It's no use saying "I made it through private enterprise, therefore I deserve it, the government steals everything instead". It's a sham. Everything's the same. We got to be fair. If we want to string the PAP by the balls we have to string all those rich people as well.

It's so easy - everything that goes wrong, just blame the PAP for it. But the rich guys were playing the PAP as puppets, and when the WP comes in, they'll play the WP as puppets. And it's even worse than before because the WP have never been fucked in the ass before so their asses are still soft and tender. And to the rich guys, it doesn't really make a diff. You used to squeeze a pair of white balls, now you're squeezing a pair of blue balls.

So here's how it works. We figure out who the fuckers are, we figure out their names, where they live, where their kids go to school. And we'll pop them off one by one.

So what type of person are you, Sammy boy?

 

[winnipegjets]

Sometimes I wonder how many people think deeply about what the real problem in Singapore is. The PAP is a big problem, but I'm not even sure they are the masters of their fate.

I wonder how many people draw the direct connection between how taxes are made really low for all these people coming to Singapore, and the hefty amounts that people have to pay for their COEs and HDB flats.

Maybe it would be more constructive, instead of sitting back and complaining about the govt, to try to find all these tax cheats, all these foreign talents turning Singapore upside down, publicise their names, and help them get the fuck out of this place. It is very useful to turn the screws on the PAP, but the other end of the pincer movement would be to squeeze these people as well.

I am all for making sinkapore inhospitable for foreigners.

 

[metalmickey]

I am all for making sinkapore inhospitable for foreigners.

To be fair: when I said that taxes are made really low for people coming to Singapore, I mean for direct investors or big multinational companies. Obviously foreigners as individuals pay the same income taxes and same COEs as the rest of us.

 

[The_Hypocrite]

The problem with Singapore is the PAP is in rent seeking behaviour,,trying to maximise profit at the expense of the peoples welfare..I not advocating welfare etc,,but to give locals a fair go,,if they dont want to work, they can jolly well starve,,but just use public tpt as an example.

its getting bad to worse as the pap does not view it as a public good to improve productivity but to profit the tpt companies,...how come bus and trains dont compete with each other? instead,,its in the tpt company interest to squeeze more and more commuters...so that is why till now, public tpt will not and never improve,,,this is just 1 example..

http://www.forbes.com/sites/neerjaj...loads-of-money-singapore-walks-the-tightrope/

Sometimes I wonder how many people think deeply about what the real problem in Singapore is. The PAP is a big problem, but I'm not even sure they are the masters of their fate.

I wonder how many people draw the direct connection between how taxes are made really low for all these people coming to Singapore, and the hefty amounts that people have to pay for their COEs and HDB flats.

Maybe it would be more constructive, instead of sitting back and complaining about the govt, to try to find all these tax cheats, all these foreign talents turning Singapore upside down, publicise their names, and help them get the fuck out of this place. It is very useful to turn the screws on the PAP, but the other end of the pincer movement would be to squeeze these people as well.

 

[Leongsam]

So what type of person are you, Sammy boy?

I hate welfare of any sort. There are loads of opportunities to for the poor to become rich. There's nothing stopping any kid in Singapore from starting a wildly successful website or writing an app which achieves a million downloads.

They're educated and the tools are available to all. If they choose to play games rather than the being productive, it's their own personal choice.

 

[metalmickey]

I hate welfare of any sort. There are loads of opportunities to for the poor to become rich. There's nothing stopping any kid in Singapore from starting a wildly successful website or writing an app which achieves a million downloads.

They're educated and the tools are available to all. If they choose to play games rather than the being productive, it's their own personal choice.

Welfare in Singapore takes all forms. You put up a tax haven for the super duper rich, that is also a form of welfare for them. You say that some males have to defend our island and others don't, that's another form of welfare. You have a select group of corporations, and owing to their cosy relation with their govt, get very friendly policies, that's welfare. You have REITs who benefit from some fucker in the government pumping up the price of land to the sky, that's welfare. You have a telco ogilopoly by three incompetent fuckers, that's welfare. You have a military who doesn't fight any wars but still spend a greater proportion of its GDP than many other countries including Israel, that's welfare.

Right now the Singapore government has a lot of money, because they're taxing people like crazy and they own crazily profitable companies. (Although when it comes to managing real investment portfolios of overseas companies suddenly they're not so profitable). I'd rather them give the money to people who actually need it.

 

[Leongsam]

Welfare in Singapore takes all forms. You put up a tax haven for the super duper rich, that is also a form of welfare for them. You say that some males have to defend our island and others don't, that's another form of welfare. You have a select group of corporations, and owing to their cosy relation with their govt, get very friendly policies, that's welfare. You have REITs who benefit from some fucker in the government pumping up the price of land to the sky, that's welfare. You have a telco ogilopoly by three incompetent fuckers, that's welfare. You have a military who doesn't fight any wars but still spend a greater proportion of its GDP than many other countries including Israel, that's welfare.

Right now the Singapore government has a lot of money, because they're taxing people like crazy and they own crazily profitable companies. (Although when it comes to managing real investment portfolios of overseas companies suddenly they're not so profitable). I'd rather them give the money to people who actually need it.

You're allowing the politics of envy rather than rational thought to cloud your argument.

The world is not perfect. Monopolistic telcos exist in many countries. NZ only has ONE major telco and it is even more incompetent than any of Singapore's big 3.

As for the SAF you should thank your lucky stars it does not have to fight wars. Armies are like bank vaults. If you make it strong enough, no crook is going to attempt a break in. That is Singapore's aim and I commend the government for adopting the right philosophy given that Singapore is situated in a very bad neighborhood.

Your main grouse seems to be cronyism and the fact of the matter is that it exists wherever humans exist. It's worse in some countries than it is in others. Singapore is mild in comparison to most. NZ is probably on par with Singapore and the old boy network is alive and well when it comes to big business and government contracts.

If you're looking for Utopia, you won't find it on this earth.

 

[metalmickey]

As for the SAF you should thank your lucky stars it does not have to fight wars. Armies are like bank vaults. If you make it strong enough, no crook is going to attempt a break in. That is Singapore's aim and I commend the government for adopting the right philosophy given that Singapore is situated in a very bad neighborhood.

Your main grouse seems to be cronyism and the fact of the matter is that it exists wherever humans exist. It's worse in some countries than it is in others. Singapore is mild in comparison to most. NZ is probably on par with Singapore and the old boy network is alive and well when it comes to big business and government contracts.

If you're looking for Utopia, you won't find it on this earth.

I'll tell you what's a very bad neighbourhood. South Korea is in a very bad neighbourhood. Taiwan is in a very bad neighbourhood. Finland is in a very bad neighbourhood. But none of them have a per GDP defence budget as large as ours. Singapore could cut the defence down by 50% and you wouldn't tell the difference.

There will always be cronyism and we have to be realistic about it. But the fact that nobody's leaking information, nobody is naming and shaming, the govt gets whacked left right and centre, while the private sector fat cats get left alone to do what they want to do, that's too much.

 

[winnipegjets]

You're allowing the politics of envy rather than rational thought to cloud your argument.

Politics of envy? You gotta be kidding us. When the government treats foreigners better than citizens and we want that to change, that's not politics of envy. When a small group benefit from government policies, you want the rest to just accept it? It is time the government serve the majority, not the 20 percent. If a policy is not good for the 80 percent, then it should not implemented.

The world is not perfect. Monopolistic telcos exist in many countries. NZ only has ONE major telco and it is even more incompetent than any of Singapore's big 3.

I enjoy great dividends from my investment in NZT, so I am not complaining. I am sure pension funds in NZ are benefitting from their investment in NZT as well.

As for the SAF you should thank your lucky stars it does not have to fight wars. Armies are like bank vaults. If you make it strong enough, no crook is going to attempt a break in. That is Singapore's aim and I commend the government for adopting the right philosophy given that Singapore is situated in a very bad neighborhood.

Sinkapore's defence does NOT deter aggression from our neighbours. Malaysia or Indonesia can easily decimate this tiny dot if they chose to attack. Sinkapore should thank its lucky stars that thus far the leaders of those two countries are not mad men.

Your main grouse seems to be cronyism and the fact of the matter is that it exists wherever humans exist. It's worse in some countries than it is in others. Singapore is mild in comparison to most. NZ is probably on par with Singapore and the old boy network is alive and well when it comes to big business and government contracts.

The big difference is that in true democracy, we can toss out the government or even bash the politicians. Not so in sinkapore. Politicians in true democracy are held accountable to a great extent than in sinkapore.

If you're looking for Utopia, you won't find it on this earth.

Where's your optimism that you often exhibit? We aim for utopia, even though we may fall short, we will be a hell lot better than the status quo.

 

[Leongsam]

Where's your optimism that you often exhibit? We aim for utopia, even though we may fall short, we will be a hell lot better than the status quo.

NZ telecom shares have gone fallen from NZD11.50 to NZD2.30 in the last decade thanks in no small part to atrocious management of the telco infrastructure. The dividends don't make up for the loss of capital value.

As for throwing out the politicians you'll learn one day that changing the government does not eliminate the cozy relationships. The new government simply carries on where the old government left off and life goes on.

I am optimistic but my optimism is reserved for my own existence. When it comes to the ways of the world, I'm a realist. Nothing is going to change. Greed and the desire for power will always be the driving force of mankind. It makes no difference where they are in the political spectrum. Politicians are in it for themselves. The "serving the people" mantra is nothing but a marketing slogan.