Tax Avoidance: Only The Little People Pay Taxes II - Granite Grok

Tax Avoidance: Only The Little People Pay Taxes II

“Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors… and miss.”—Robert A. Heinlein

Tax Avoidance: Only The Little People Pay Taxes was my July 30, 2010 article at New Hampshire Insider detailing how Massachusetts Senator John F. Kerry, a/k/a, “Mr. Heinz,” saved himself over a half million dollars in sales taxes otherwise owing to the Bay State had he moored or docked his newly purchased Yacht in his home state. Instead, Mr. Heinz docked in Portsmouth Rhode Island. The savings: >$500,000 in Sales and Luxury Taxes and $70,000 in Massachusetts excise taxes.

As I stated at the time, I thought the decision was a sound one and economically advantageous. In the decision itself, I could find no fault.  Where I had the problem with Mr. Heinz is his constant ubiquitous diatribe about, “The rich needing to pay their fair share.”  John Kerry: just another tax and spend liberal.

Now enter Al Gore.  Another who likes to caterwaul endlessly about the, “Rich needing to pay their fair share. Then the sale of CURRENT to Al {death to America}Jazzera TV emerges. And What does Al Gore do? He tries with haste to rush the transaction through before the first of the year, that he might, make more money and not have a higher tax consequence.

Now lets be clear. I am not criticizing folks for Tax avoidance. In fact, I deem anybody who can legally minimize their tax liability, a Patriot. I mean, why give the government more money via the Infernal Revenue Circus?  On the other hand, it seems disingenuous for  “mantra-bleating” liberals like John Kerry and Al Gore to insist on the Rich paying their fair share, then avoiding taxes.

But then there are the outright Tax Cheats:

  • Wesley Snipes was jailed for tax evasion.
  • Nicholas Cage,
  • Paul Hogan (Crocodile Dundee),
  • Melissa Etheridge,
  • Annie Leibovitz,
  • Luciano Pavarotti
  • Martha Stewart

Perhaps the late Leona Helmsley was right after all: “Only the little people pay taxes…”

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