Saturday, December 21, 2019

Time To Look Into Taxes > "Daylight Robbery" Dominic Frisby's New Book

It's that time again! Here's some of a rave review from just one source  https://www.goodreads.com Goodreads that hits all the history and high-notes and goes like this when Frisby himself does some interviews and talk-shows to make us realize that labor is the most taxed asset. That's an eye-opener for many going back to feudal times and indentured servants - it's become a fact-of-life for many and as certain as death and dying when income taxes became the law of the land to pay-off a war, but never got taken off the books ...". . . In Daylight Robbery, Dominic Frisby traces the origins of taxation, from its roots in the ancient world, through to today. He explores the role of tax in the formation of our global religions, the part tax played in wars and revolutions throughout the ages, why, at one stage, we paid tax for daylight or for growing a beard. Ranging from the despotic to the absurd, the tax laws of the past reveal so much about how we got to where we are today and what we can do to build a system fit for the future.
Dominic Frisby is a comedian from London.
But his first book, Life After The State, has nothing to do with comedy. It is a deadly serious dismantling of the way societies are run in the west, outlining the damage governments unknowingly do to their people, with simple suggestions about how things can be vastly improved
Dominic writes an investment column for MoneyWeek and has written and produced ...more
 
Books by Dominic Frisby
Bitcoin: the Future of Money?
Life After the State
Daylight Robbery: How Tax Shaped Our Past and Will Change Our Future
Why Gold is the Currency of the Free: A short essay about gold, money and freedom
Universal Basic Income - For and Against: foreword by Robert P. Murphy, PhD., afterword by Dominic Frisby
More…
 
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Daylight robbery: Dominic Frisby talks tax with Moneywise
Published on Dec 16, 2019
This streaming video is about 30 minutes long.Moneywise editor Rachel Rickard Straus talks to Dominic Frisby, author of "Daylight Robbery: how tax shaped our past and will change our future"
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In 2014 Frisky wrote a book about BITCOIN
 
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GETTING PERSONAL: website https://dominicfrisby.com/news
Financial writer, comedian, actor of unrecognized genius and voice of many things.

Daylight Robbery – How Tax Shaped Our Past and Will Change Our Future

My new book Daylight robbery comes out this Thursday and I am very excited.
I was planning to knock it out in a couple of months after Edinburgh 2016 and it ended up taking me the best part of three years to write. The history of tax is as old as the  history of civilisation, so there was a lot to get through. But I reckon it’s my best yet.
You can order a copy at Amazon, of, if you prefer, I’ve got a few signed hardbacks for sale. If you’d like one cost is £22.50 including p&p. (If you want to send it outside the UK, please drop me a line at frizzers at gmail.com)
(If you order one, can you drop me a line saying if you want just a signature or a personal note frizzers at gmail.com).
If you want a cheaper, non-signed version, then go via Amazon.
If you’re an audiobook person, that comes out on Thursday too.
The response so far has been better than I could have expected:
“A book about tax, that is readable, fascinating – and fun! Sounds impossible, I know. But that’s what Dominic Frisby has written,” Liam Halligan, Telegraph
“A brilliant book,” Douglas Carswell
“A tour de force” Matt Ridley
“A must-read” Roger Bootle
“A great read” George Galloway
“A real page-turner” Steve Baker”
“Spectacular” Mark Littlewood
“A fascinating, must-read” Liz Truss
“Masterful” Jon Matonis
“Utterly gripping” Simon Evans
“Fantastic ” Roger Ver
“Hugely engaging” Merryn Somerset Webb
“Both amusing and informative, it’s a romp” Bill Bonner
“You need to read this book”, Greg Moffitt.
“Hugely readable,” Sam Packer, Tax Payers Alliance
“Frisby’s tax book is REALLY good. I can’t recommend it highly enough,” James Delingpole



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Divergent Policy on Federal OZones > States Should Decouple from Costly Federal Opportunity Zones

Here's a totally different rationale, with a number of supporting references from reliable sources:
"There is little reason to believe that opportunity zones will deliver meaningful economic benefits to the low-income families they are ostensibly designed to benefit.
Not only are opportunity zones based on failed trickle-down economics, but investors are incentivized to fund highly-profitable projects rather than projects more responsive to the needs of truly distressed communities, . . and additionally regulations for opportunity zones are inadequate to hold investors accountable for making investments that actually benefit local communities.
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States Should Decouple from Costly Federal Opportunity Zones and Reject Look-Alike Programs               
ITEP                         
December 12, 2019
"The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) created many lucrative tax cuts for high-income taxpayers that purportedly “trickle down” to lower- and middle-income families, including the new Opportunity Zones program (OZ).
Under the Opportunity Zones program, people who invest in areas designated as “distressed” are rewarded with various federal tax breaks on the income they enjoy from those investments. Due to linkages between the federal and many states’ tax codes, the same tax breaks are now available in most states.
There is little reason to believe that opportunity zones will deliver meaningful economic benefits to the low-income families they are ostensibly designed to benefit.
> Not only are opportunity zones based on failed trickle-down economics, but investors are incentivized to fund highly-profitable projects rather than projects more responsive to the needs of truly distressed communities, such as affordable housing.
> Additionally, regulations for opportunity zones are inadequate to hold investors accountable for making investments that actually benefit local communities
(For more information on the federal Opportunity Zones program and its shortcomings, see Opportunity Zones Bolster Investors’ Bottom Lines Rather than Economic or Racial Equity.)
> Post enactment of TCJA, lawmakers in most states still need to decide how to respond to the creation of this new program.
Given the shortcomings of the federal Opportunity Zones program and its added potential costs to states, the most prudent course of action is three-pronged:
  • First, states should move quickly to decouple from the Opportunity Zones investment income tax breaks that most of them have inherited as a result of their tax codes’ linkages to federal tax law.
  • Second, states should reject local proposals that offer even more tax breaks to the investors participating in the Opportunity Zones program.
  • Finally, state lawmakers concerned with economically distressed areas should seek to make those investments directly to ensure that the projects are responsive to the needs of current residents. Investments in public transit, education and water systems would create more equitable economies and promote economic growth"
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    "The rationales for offering capital gains breaks to opportunity zone investors at the state level are even weaker than offering such breaks at the federal level.[1]
    This is because much of the benefit of state tax cuts for investors is likely to flow to people investing in opportunity zones located in other states.
    > An additional issue for states to be concerned about is the regressive nature of these tax incentives
    > In addition to subsidizing out of state investors and exacerbating regressive tax subsidies, each of these three subsidies threatens state finances in different ways. . .
    > . . . Furthermore, states that are truly interested in aiding “distressed” communities should have their investment strategies informed by engagement with affected stakeholders, consulting with community leaders and activists in local neighborhoods to inform what investments would most benefit their communities.
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    Extracts from reference materials:
    Conclusion
    The federal Opportunity Zones program is deeply flawed. States should decouple from this program as quickly as possible and decline to double-down on its failed trickle-down approach by rejecting proposals to enact additional tax credits for investors of opportunity zones. If states do not decouple, they run the risk of lost revenues as well as larger inequities in the future. Lawmakers who want to invest in distressed communities should seek to make those investments directly rather than through the flawed structure of the Opportunity Zones program.
    The time for state lawmakers to act is now. It was recently reported that the 2020 Census could expand Opportunity Zones tax breaks.[17] Recently, Rep. Rashida Tlaib proposed a bill to repeal the Opportunity Zones tax break in its entirety. If enacted, this would be a step in the right direction towards a just tax system However, states should not wait to enact their own responsible and equitable economic tax policies.
    [1] Mazerov, Michael. “States Should Decouple Their Income Taxes From Federal “Opportunity Zone” Tax Breaks ASAP.” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. April 29, 2019. Available at: https://www.cbpp.org/blog/states-should-decouple-their-income-taxes-from-federal-opportunity-zone-tax-breaks-asap.
    [2] The Joint Committee on Taxation estimates the Opportunity Zone program will cost $1.6 billion in federal revenue between 2018 and 2027.Joint Committee on Taxation, “Estimated Budget Effects of the Conference Agreement for H.R. 1, The ‘Tax Cuts and Jobs Act,’” JCX-67-17, Dec. 18, 2017, https://www.jct.gov/publications.html?func=startdown&id=5053.
    [3] Gelford, Hilary and Adam Looney, “Learning from Opportunity Zones: How to improve place-based policies.” Brookings Institution. Available at: https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Looney_Opportunity-Zones_final.pdf
    [5] Grundman, Dylan. “What the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act Means for States- A Guide to Impacts and Options,” Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, January 26, 2018, Available at: https://itep.org/what-the-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-means-for-states-a-guide-to-impacts-and-options/
    [7] Bartik research
    [8] Buss, T.F. (2001), “The effect of state tax incentives on economic growth and firm location decisions: An overview of the literature.” Economic Development Quarterly, 15(1), 90-105. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/089124240101500108
    [11] Ernsthausten, Jeff and Justin Elliot, “How a Tax Break to Help the Poor Went To NBA Owner Dan Gilbert,” ProPublica. October 24, 2019. Available at: https://www.propublica.org/article/how-a-tax-break-to-help-the-poor-went-to-nba-owner-dan-gilbert
    [12] Maciag, Mike, “Do Tax Breaks Help or Hurt a State’s Finances? New Study Digs Deep,” Governing, May 2019. Available at: https://www.governing.com/topics/finance/gov-tax-incentives-job-creation.html
    [13] Daphne A. Kenyon, Adam H. Langely, and Bethany P. Paquin, “Rethinking Property Tax Incentives for Businesses,” Lincoln Institute of Land Policy,” June 2012: https://www.lincolninst.edu/publications/policy-focus-reports/rethinking-property-tax-incentives-business
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    IRS Issues Final Regulations on OZones + Qualified Opportunity Funds

    The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) is reporting that its review of the final IRS regulations on Qualified Opportunity Funds concluded on December 17th. Yesterday Jimmy Atkinson writing in Opportunity Database announced that the long wait is over.
    IRS has issued final regulations on Qualified Opportunity Funds, nearly two years after the Opportunity Zone initiative was enacted into law as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts & Jobs Act.
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    There are a number of sticking points from the first two tranches of proposed regulations — many of which were discussed at the most recent IRS hearing on Qualified Opportunity Funds — that should be clarified in these final regs, including:
    • Data collection and reporting, and what Treasury’s limits may be.
    • Multi-asset fund exit options, and the discrepancies that exist between tax treatment at the different QOF, QOZB, and QOZBP levels.
    • Whether the substantial improvement test can be conducted on an aggregate basis, as opposed to an asset-by-asset basis.
    • The treatment of debt-financed distributions.
    • The treatment of Section 1231 gains.
    • The definition of vacant property.
    • How to pair the Opportunity Zone tax incentive with real estate tax credits such as New Markets, Low Income Housing, Renewable Energy, and Historic.

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    Click here to read the complete draft of the final regulations.
    The final regulations are a modification and merger of the first and second tranches of regulatory guidance and provide additional clarification on topics that remained unresolved after the first two sets of proposed regulation.
    In total, the notice is 544 pages in length.
    IRS completed the final regulations and submitted them for review to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) on December 6.
    The final regulations do not officially take effect until they are published in the Federal Register.
    That publication is expected to be posted to FederalRegister.gov within the next week or two, most likely before the end of the year.
    … the final regulations provide additional guidance on how an entity becomes a QOF or QOZ business, and the requirement that a QOF or QOZ business engage in a trade or business. The final regulations retain the general approach of the proposed regulations but provide additional guidance and clarity to the rules regarding QOZ business property.
    https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-and-treasury-finalize-opportunity-zone-guidance 
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    "The Economic Innovation group released a statement in response to the final rules.
    “These regulations provide much-needed clarity for communities and investors alike, and will facilitate stronger levels of investment across a range of local needs in designated communities,” said John Lettieri, president and CEO of EIG. “The final rules include several significant improvements designed to make it easier to use Opportunity Zones for the purposes Congress intended.”
    Several Opportunity Zone experts chimed in on Twitter on Thursday afternoon, including Lettieri, Forbes tax writer Tony Nitti, EIG research director Kenan Fikri, Opportunity Zone consultant Jill Homan, Bloomberg Tax writer Lydia O’Neal, and Develop Advisors founder Steve Glickman:
    A couple of quick notes on the final OZone regs people were waiting on:
    1. Section 1231 gains can now be invested on a gross basis; i.e., you don’t have to go though the netting process first. So the 180 day period starts on the date of sale.
    1/x
    VERY preliminary take on the #OpportunityZones regs: on the real estate side, they now provide a massive impetus to clean up brownfields and blight and otherwise restore and reoccupy vacant property, truly making this a RE-investment incentive. Good news for cities, environment.
    Final #OpportunityZone regulations big change: vacancy period to allow a building to qualify as original use reduced to 1 year with restrictions or 3 years. #OpportunityZones
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    (1) An exciting way to end the year for the #OpportunityZones marketplace! 2020 will be the year that private investors & local governments come together to revitalize our America's distressed communities. IRS released the FINAL OZ res today. Quick thread. https://t.co/4D9om8F8Y4

    IRS tax forms and instructions pertaining to Opportunity Zone investing will be finalized and made available in January 2020.
    Jimmy Atkinson
    Jimmy Atkinson
    Hi, I'm Jimmy Atkinson... I founded OpportunityDb in August 2018. I'm a veteran Internet entrepreneur with a background in economics and Web marketing. I previously founded ETFdb.com. These days, I am passionate about impact investing and tax-advantaged investment opportunities. At the crossroads of these two ideals is the opportunity zones program, a place-based tax policy intended to economically transform some of the poorest areas of the United States with new real estate and business development.
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    Friday, December 20, 2019

    Taxes & The Most Joyous Time of The Year > Dominic Frisby's New Book "Daylight Robbery"


    Image result for daylight robbery dominic frisby
    Image result for daylight robbery dominic frisby 

    DOMINIC FRISBY




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