Aug 21, 2009
Proving the Negative
What is most disturbing to me about Obama's new call to eliminate tax deductions for companies that earn profits in countries outside the U.S. is not that it seems like the economic equivalent of erecting a Berlin Wall. It is not that it also calls for the hiring of 800 new IRS agents as border guards--keeping people in, not keeping undesirables out.
Bad as those are, this is what worries me the most:"Obama also planned to ask Congress to crack down on tax havens and implement a major shift in the way courts view guilt. Under Obama's proposal, Americans would have to prove they were not breaking U.S. tax laws by sending money to banks that don't cooperate with tax officials. It essentially would reverse the long-held assumption of innocence in U.S. courts."
Under the newly proposed guidelines, once you are charged--for whatever reason--with attempting to evade taxes by exploiting a"tax haven," you are presumed guilty. And you would have to prove your innocence to federal judge who, one suspects, is likely to be inclined against you already. That is a dangerous precedent indeed.
Bad as those are, this is what worries me the most:"Obama also planned to ask Congress to crack down on tax havens and implement a major shift in the way courts view guilt. Under Obama's proposal, Americans would have to prove they were not breaking U.S. tax laws by sending money to banks that don't cooperate with tax officials. It essentially would reverse the long-held assumption of innocence in U.S. courts."
Under the newly proposed guidelines, once you are charged--for whatever reason--with attempting to evade taxes by exploiting a"tax haven," you are presumed guilty. And you would have to prove your innocence to federal judge who, one suspects, is likely to be inclined against you already. That is a dangerous precedent indeed.