Posts by Paul Campbell
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Speaker: Why we can’t just fix secondary…, in reply to izogi,
Are you a US citizen, Paul? I've heard that the USA makes its citizens file annual returns no matter where they are in the world... just to make sure they're paying enough tax to somebody. Or is this just something about doing business with a US company?
No, but my wife is, I lived there for 20 years and have retirement investments there
We have to file as a non-resident on the small income from those long term investments, it typically is small enough that I pay no or little tax in the US, then I pay tax in NZ at my marginal rate on the difference (because of the tax treaty) between how much I paid in tax in the US and my high marginal rate in NZ - this is IMHO entirely fair - however it's another case where not being able to file jointly in NZ (but have to in the US) makes it a nightmare for us because my wife is on a different marginal rate in NZ than I am ....
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yes but dividing by 23, a prime number, it just seems wrong somehow
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Speaker: Why we can’t just fix secondary…, in reply to izogi,
From a joint income angle, what's the current state of people doing things like paying a [fake] salary to their partner in New Zealand, so that both have a lower income and avoid the upper tax rates to pay lower income tax overall?
my accountant originally suggested I do this (10 years ago), along with a bunch of other things that have since landed a bunch of Dentists/etc in deep trouble. I declined - however my company largely exists as a tax dodge - in a good way: so that I'm not directly an employee of a US company, and so as a result the bulk of my tax is paid in NZ (you should pay tax in the community where you live) - I still file and pay tax in both countries - it's not fun, but the NZ part is less not fun than the US part
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I kind of get the impression there's another hidden dynamic going on here, more of the ongoing war for succession within the Auckland party, John's probably trying to keep the lid on to preserve his legacy - meanwhile I bet one of her rabid lapdogs is working hard on dirt to spread on the other side
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Oh yeah and I'm all for income splitting (or joint tax returns) - but it's a largely middle class tax break, it doesn't help the low income couple who both have to work hard to get by. I think we should bring it in, but bump the upper bracket enough to make the result revenue neutral.
My wife's and my assets are all community property (we lived in California where all marital property is that) - dealing with tax on income from investments in the US that has to be paid in NZ is, well, interesting - I don't see why married couples couldn't file jointly (you have to change where the tax rate steps kick in for those who do that) it would make life a lot easier - our marginal rates are currently different - how we deal with jointly owned interest bearing accounts is just weird, you can't tell the bank to pay half the tax on interest earned at one rate and the other half at another
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I lived in the US for 20 years, I still have to file returns there - this is very much a case of "you don't know how lucky you are mate" - NZ tax is so so easy - I used to file 150 page US returns
I've run a small business in California, it's a nightmare, especially sales tax, not only are some things taxed and some not, but each city has its own tax rate - sell stuff by mail and you have to know where you are shipping stuff to and look up the tables ..... by comparison GST is trivial, attaches to everything, my NZ company's returns take 5 minutes every 2 months (most of it spent trying to remember the bizarre fraction I have to multiply by) .... and then the IRD sends me a cheque (because most of my company's income is from the export of my labour, and exports don't charge GST) - equally PAYE in NZ is easy, it's a row in a spreadsheet (half of that kiwisaver) takes 5 minutes a month - again we don't know how propitious are the circumstances .
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well not quite "gone by tea-time" - more like taking garden leave to avoid question time
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Hard News: The sphere of influence, in reply to Matthew Poole,
What about the self-employed? What about partners in a non-limited partnership?
The self employed and partners in partnerships would be limited to giving any amount they like up to 1% of the minimum wage just like everyone else
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The companies office shows that 100% of Oravida is owned by Kauri NZ investments which has one director Stone Shi. 98% of Kauri is owned by Kauri NZ Trustee Ltd which has one director Devi Shi. 100% of Kauri NZ Trustee Ltd is owned by Gilligan Shepard Nominees Ltd which has 3 directors Richard Ashby/Greg Rathbun/Bruce Sheppard. 100% of Gilligan Shepard Nominees Ltd is jointly owned by Greg Rathbun/Bruce Sheppard
While her husband is a director of Oravida he isn't in any of the above lists
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Hard News: The sphere of influence, in reply to nzlemming,
They'll still do it. They'll just hide it better.
Well that's the easy part to deal with , you make every dollar accountable - no more secret trusts - if you support a party and give it $1 you should do it in public with the whole world watching - it;s not hard to type someone's name into a spreadsheet when they give you a cheque, and if they contribute on-line it happens for free.
While you're there make the penalties for breaking the rules and engaging in this sort of corruption high enough that people actually think twice .... excuse me Mr B you appear to have laundered your funds from a foreign mogul, the top 10 members on your list will be turfed from parliament, I see 6 of them have electorate seats, there will be by-elections - that not only keeps the people in power on their toes, but gives the younger MPs an incentive to reveal the truth and stab them in the back