Who here has the best job?

[Bonged Kiwi]

Rates are set by the government.

Yup... And, again, I'm lost. I never said they didn't.

Perhaps I'm not explaining myself properly or reading things properly. I've got a hell of a head cold at the moment and I'm not exactly on point. Feels like my head is full of glue.

I get taxed at 20% on all my acting income, then my agent takes a further 10%.

At the end of the financial year I am able to claim tax back from any expenses I incurred and what I was getting at is that I COULD claim back a lot more than I do. Which is why I was saying that I try to keep my tax claims at a reasonable rate.

As far as I'm aware, I pay more tax than the average rich person/corporation, and that fucks me off.

My mother is a perfect example. She's not hugely wealthy, but wealthy enough to afford a very good accountant who wrangles things so that she pays very, very little tax at all. Far less than I do percentage wise.

I do not think that's right.

Rich people can afford to pay for others to avoid tax, while the poor and working class remain largely ignorant of their ability to do so, or even if they are aware, can't afford the accountant to do it for them and end up paying more tax (in percentage terms, not in gross amounts, obviously)



Bah, fuck it. I should've listened to Rex Kwon Do and let this lie... my brain hurts now.

 

[Bonged Kiwi]

The problem with that is corporations have an obligation to their shareholders to maximise profit, so invariably regardless of whether or not the rates are 'reasonable' they will always be looking to reduce their tax liability as it will increase their profit.

This.

Even if the corporate tax rate is set at a reasonable level (which, world wide, they often aren't), the corporations never end up paying what they're "expected" to pay because they have teams of people working to avoid it.

So, they end up paying less than they "should".

 

[PolishHeadlock]

I find that hard to believe.

Possible, but hard to believe, as Peter Jackson has ALWAYS made his films here and his entire base of operations is here too.

Not to mention the lower amount they would have to pay crew/extras as opposed to the states. As well as all the different kinds of spectacular scenery all within a relatively short distance to each other.

Although, you may be right in that tax rates probably did play some part in the decision making.

Your wages are cheaper right? Your taxes are cheaper right?

So you are against tax avoidance but you have no problem with them taking job out of Hollywood for lower wages?

Why is that? THe government deserves the money but the people don't?

It's called competitive advantage. You should set up your state and you country to be in a competitive advantage because Personal income taxes provide most of the taxes in 1st world countries

 

[PGlew]

wtf do u mean?

Radio towers and well anything man made that's high!

 

[PolishHeadlock]

Yup... And, again, I'm lost. I never said they didn't.

Perhaps I'm not explaining myself properly or reading things properly. I've got a hell of a head cold at the moment and I'm not exactly on point. Feels like my head is full of glue.

I get taxed at 20% on all my acting income, then my agent takes a further 10%.

At the end of the financial year I am able to claim tax back from any expenses I incurred and what I was getting at is that I COULD claim back a lot more than I do. Which is why I was saying that I try to keep my tax claims at a reasonable rate.

As far as I'm aware, I pay more tax than the average rich person/corporation, and that fucks me off.

My mother is a perfect example. She's not hugely wealthy, but wealthy enough to afford a very good accountant who wrangles things so that she pays very, very little tax at all. Far less than I do percentage wise.

I do not think that's right.

Rich people can afford to pay for others to avoid tax, while the poor and working class remain largely ignorant of their ability to do so, or even if they are aware, can't afford the accountant to do it for them and end up paying more tax (in percentage terms, not in gross amounts, obviously)



Bah, fuck it. I should've listened to Rex Kwon Do and let this lie... my brain hurts now.

I'd like to see how your mom avoids taxes. Most tax breaks are setup to provide capital in the market "trickle down I know people hate it" But that is the reason. Would the money be better served in the market or by the government?

Does your mom earn money on income or on income investments?

 

[PolishHeadlock]

And again the US has the highest corporate tax rate in the 1st world? How does that make sense for capitalist nation?

It helps out Europe since most companies set up shops in the Netherlands and try not to bring the cash back to the US since it would be taxed at a higher rate.

 

[Sock Puppet]

Right now I'm looking for a new contract. But I just got done with Sikorsky. Have worked for the Air Force, American Eurocopter, Airbus, Dyncorp International.

And yeah the pay is great, especially the overseas gigs. Made 6 figures a year with Dyncorp working in Germany. And would've doubled it if I'd gone down range to Afghanistan, but the funding for that trip fell through.


Still, it's a great job and all, but I'm burned out on it. Once you've worked on several different air frames, all the shit starts to feel the same. Even the people seem the same from job to job. It's an odd field lol.
But I want to try something different for awhile. If nothing else I can always go back to aviation later on.

check out dynamic.

 

[Kevin Rudd]

This.

Even if the corporate tax rate is set at a reasonable level (which, world wide, they often aren't), the corporations never end up paying what they're "expected" to pay because they have teams of people working to avoid it.

So, they end up paying less than they "should".

it is not a huge issue because it comes around full circle.

Example: Company reduces it effective tax rate from 30% to 15%. Proifts increased and therefore shareholder dividends do as well.

Dividends get taxed as income at personal income tax rates in the hands of the shareholders.

Say the shareholder then takes his post tax dividend and goes and buys some clothes. Those clothes will be subject to a VAT most likely of around 10%.

In the end it does end up in the hands of the tax man just takes longer to get there. Unless you are physically hiding your profits in cash under your bed, tax man invariably gets his hand on it.

 

[Sock Puppet]

Radio towers and well anything man made that's high!

i think i'd like to do that just for one day, long enough to climb up one an pee off of it.

 

[Bonged Kiwi]

I'd like to see how your mom avoids taxes. Most tax breaks are setup to provide capital in the market "trickle down I know people hate it" But that is the reason. Would the money be better served in the market or by the government?

Does your mom earn money on income or on income investments?

Income.

She and her husband own/run their own construction company and manage to write off most of their taxes as business expenses... I think.

I don't know nearly enough about tax to be able to provide details.

All I know is what she told me. And she's knows what she's doing isn't really right but, "everyone does it, so why shouldn't she?"

And as far as the whole "money in the market or in the government" debate. In an ideal world, I'd say it should be both, with people earning a respectable amount of money, but paying the "fair" amount back to the government (an amount that rises, percentage wise, the higher up the ladder you climb)... However, this is under the assumption that the government will spend the money on healthcare, education, roads etc and not to prop up/bail out corporations or on corrupt wars etc. which is quite obviously not always the case.

If I live in the States I'd probably be a LOT more hesitant to give my money to the government.

 

[PolishHeadlock]

The problem with that is corporations have an obligation to their shareholders to maximise profit, so invariably regardless of whether or not the rates are 'reasonable' they will always be looking to reduce their tax liability as it will increase their profit.

Hence competitive advantage. If your rates are the same as The Netherlands and Singapore why would you keep money there?

You can keep rates high when dealing with countries with a less talented workforce but that isn't the case with many countries today.

 

[PolishHeadlock]

Income.

She and her husband own/run their own construction company and manage to write off most of their taxes as business expenses... I think.

I don't know nearly enough about tax to be able to provide details.

All I know is what she told me. And she's knows what she's doing isn't really right but, "everyone does it, so why shouldn't she?"

And as far as the whole "money in the market or in the government" debate. In an ideal world, I'd say it should be both, with people earning a respectable amount of money, but paying the "fair" amount back to the government (an amount that rises, percentage wise, the higher up the ladder you climb)... However, this is under the assumption that the government will spend the money on healthcare, education, roads etc and not to prop up/bail out corporations or on corrupt wars etc. which is quite obviously not always the case.

If I live in the States I'd probably be a LOT more hesitant to give my money to the government.

I don't know NZ tax but I'd like to see what they are writing off that you think is questionable. When you are self employed you right off more stuff.

 

[Bonged Kiwi]

But, I said earlier that I'm going to drop all this tax talk, and I haven't... but now I am.

I'm WAY out of my depth here, trying to debate tax laws with people who do it for a living... However, if you want to discuss the finer points of the actor's process, then I'll have more to say :icon_lol:

 

[PolishHeadlock]

But, I said earlier that I'm going to drop all this tax talk, and I haven't... but now I am.

I'm WAY out of my depth here, trying to debate tax laws with people who do it for a living... However, if you want to discuss the finer points of the actor's process, then I'll have more to say :icon_lol:

Admit that Val Kilmer is great actor who has taken some shitty jobs!!!

And admit that Gary Oldman is as good as DDL but isn't as selective with his work!!

I've been saying those 2 things for years!

 

[Bonged Kiwi]

I don't know NZ tax but I'd like to see what they are writing off that you think is questionable. When you are self employed you right off more stuff.

Ok, one last tax post, then that's it...

I know you can. I'm self employed so I know that it's very easy to write stuff off. It's also totally legitimate to do so... to a point.

My point is that many, my mother included, exploit the system for their own personal gain and end up paying an unfair amount of tax (in the sense that it's unfair to others -- they pay far too little).

Then they still proceed to bitch and moan about how the government doesn't do enough to help out when times are tough.

 

[equus]

For the most part,I fuck around all day. Im a corporate security coordinator. I, on occasion, work as a party goer at black tie affairs, blending into the crowd while I keep an eyeball on my boss who treats me like im a nephew or something While im armed and really there for his protection. He essentially worries about far fetched kidnapping scenarios that will never happen and im more than happy to take his money. On a daily basis I run the security operations for our firm and usually direct alot of shit to my assistant since hes slow usually for a little while each day. I have a team of 6 and we run like a little swat team. Yesterday I played out on our gun range and tried hitting 20oz pop bottles from way to far away with my ar15 my boss bought me 6 months ago. And I have an office with direct tv. And a mini fridge . the mini fridge makes it all worth it. Been doing tbis for 5 years and I dont hate it.

 

[Bonged Kiwi]

Admit that Val Kilmer is great actor who has taken some shitty jobs!!!

And admit that Gary Oldman is as good as DDL but isn't as selective with his work!!

I've been saying those 2 things for years!

Hahaha, what you speak is truth...ish.

Val Kilmer may not be "great" per se, but he is very good and criminally underrated by many. There are many actors like him. Nic Cage being the prime example. Extremely talented actor who has been in some unbelievably awful films.

I personally wouldn't put Oldman on the same level as DDL, but he is undoubtedly a great actor and I have no problem with others comparing the two. Oldman's a fucking chameleon and is almost always perfectly cast... which is another way of saying that he's incredibly versatile.

 

[PolishHeadlock]

Ok, one last tax post, then that's it...

I know you can. I'm self employed so I know that it's very easy to write stuff off. It's also totally legitimate to do so... to a point.

My point is that many, my mother included, exploit the system for their own personal gain and end up paying an unfair amount of tax (in the sense that it's unfair to others -- they pay far too little).

Then they still proceed to bitch and moan about how the government doesn't do enough to help out when times are tough.

Again I'd have to see it. I don't know NZ taxes at all. I just know your corporate rate is lower than ours as are most countries that matter.

 

[PolishHeadlock]

Hahaha, what you speak is truth...ish.

Val Kilmer may not be "great" per se, but he is very good and criminally underrated by many. There are many actors like him. Nic Cage being the prime example. Extremely talented actor who has been in some unbelievably awful films.

I personally wouldn't put Oldman on the same level as DDL, but he is undoubtedly a great actor and I have no problem with other comparing the two. Oldman's a fucking chameleon and is almost always perfectly cast... which is another way of saying that he's incredibly versatile.

See I'd qualify Cage as great too but he is usually going for paycheck but when he is on he is as good as it gets. Raising Arizona and Leaving Las Vegas were as good as anything DDL has done.

 

[PolishHeadlock]

Hahaha, what you speak is truth...ish.

Val Kilmer may not be "great" per se, but he is very good and criminally underrated by many. There are many actors like him. Nic Cage being the prime example. Extremely talented actor who has been in some unbelievably awful films.

I personally wouldn't put Oldman on the same level as DDL, but he is undoubtedly a great actor and I have no problem with others comparing the two. Oldman's a fucking chameleon and is almost always perfectly cast... which is another way of saying that he's incredibly versatile.

What about Mickey Rourke?