Taxes and Ferrari

Oh, boo-hoo.

 

Funny thing about Taxes / debt... they elected their leaders... But now they don't want to pay for what they voted for.

THINK before you vote people.

Nothing is free.

 

Actually the current Italian government is unelected.

 

In much of europe - Italy especially its always been difficult to "show wealth" ... only in the last 15 or so years was it really "cool" to drive your Ferrari. in the 80's it was rare to see them out & about mostly because people would target you... that is why they had Uno Turbo's and Lancia Delta Integrale as The sports cars.... Lots of Italians used to keep their cars & money in Switzerland....

its going back that way like in the 70's with all the push for socialist govt's...

They have a coalition govt now... most likely will not stand for long.

 

We have good friends who are permanent residents in Grand Cayman. You should hear their stories about some of the locals arriving with suitcases full of money, etc. No more. They ask a lot of questions at the customs office as you arrive. But they still have more banks there than can be imagined and most only have two employees -a receptionist and an executive.

It isn't easy to hide money there as it was in the past. Apparently Italy is the same way now. Cayman residents pay no income tax.

 

"A widely reported tax blitz in January on Cortina D'Ampezzo, the winter playground for the rich and famous, received widespread support from Italians. Tax authorities looked into the owners of 133 Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and other luxury cars and found nearly a third of the owners declared incomes of less than $30,000 per year – a laughable amount, considering not only the cost of their cars but the $8.95/gallon cost of gasoline."


This about sums it up.

 

Yep. If they don't like the government's taxes, they should leave, completely. They want their cake without the obligations. I'd jail them, take every dime they have, then boot them out. Same deal here.

Art

 

I know Europe has generally high taxes compared to what we here in the US are accustomed to, but tax evasion is higher in Europe as well. In a chicken and the egg question, which one acts as the catalyst for the other, and if you reduced one, would the other follow?

To put this story in perspective, I read a story recently on this subject that summarized that if the average restaurant owner paid every tax technically due him/her, it would be absolutely impossible to due business. The cost of a meal would far exceed any sane price that could be charged, in a land where eating out is already notoriously expensive.

 

The good news is that there will be some cheap second hand Ferraris on the market soon

Pete

 

In the US? If so, total and absolute BS. My family was in the restaurant business for 40 years and made a *ton* of money. There was one situation where a tax was dodged that ultimately lead to a $150k settlement with the IRS. My grandfather went to his death bed ranting about what an idiot he was that he ended up paying $150k to avoid $20k. Meanwhile he made millions.

Most people who claim that there is just no possible way to pay tax are millionaires who are full of $ h I t.

So the ***** in this story with the new Ferrari would, what, have to drive a 5 year old one if he paid his damn tax? Yeah, real hardship.

Ridiculous that anyone would defend parasites. I guess crooked hedge fund managers who take their money offshore just ahead of a federal indictment are just more "big govt" victims too.

 

It is not about paying taxes... it is how it's been used that agravates eveybody...

 

It's about time.

 

I haven't done business in Italy so I can't comment on whether this is an atrocity or justice coming to roost.

I do know that you can't hide from an audit. Numbers don't lie.

For this reason I pay my taxes, every cent due.

 

Avoiding taxes is a national sport in Italy - Greece as well - and that's because the cumulative tax rates are too high.

I wonder if all of their politicians are lawyers like they are in the US. That always leads to predictable problems - lawyers making law - because then the law is designed to benefit lawyers at the expense of everybody else.

Cheers,

George

 

Don't let it be said that I am not sympathic for the Ferrari owners nor the government dilemma. I would like to have it known that in an effort to help both sides, I am offering 200K USD for any nice 599 GTO (preferably Black). Shipping and an in-person deal are not a problem.

 

the positive side of the story is the resulting drop in used car values which gave me the perfect excuse to buy my first F car

 

Will you please explain how three years of school makes someone more or less likely to draft self-interested legislation? And by extension, are you saying people without those three (easy) years are then not equipped to read, understand, and do something about it? I truly would like an explanation of the connection between the law degree and corruption. (a common thread theme)

 

There isn't one. People just want to complain about something, anything, to make themselves feel better.

Tax dodgers (and complainers) get zero sympathy from me. Zero. I can tolerate people complaining about how it's spent provided they have some actual realistic alternative that isn't completely self-serving (ie lets cut welfare because I'm a millionaire that will never need it, or lets cut education because I already got mine). Sounds like these guys in Italy are reaping what they have sown.

 

I concur.

 

When I travelled thru the Greek Islands,hotels had two prices,Cash or Credit card. Same for car rentals. Now greece is big trouble. Blame lies on both sides-the goverment greedily overtaxes,The people hide their income,enforcment is poor.That is one reason a flat tax strictly enforced may be the best system.High taxation leads to evation and lower tax revenue.

 

The motivations you site for being anti-tax/anti-State aren't the only ones out there (this strawman is getting sooooo old.) Many of us, rich and broke, object to these programs on moral, judicial and perfectly practical grounds.

 

Fact is, Italy should by rights have a strong economy. The key to success these days is to manufacture high value, low volume products which the world wants. The high volume low cost stuff is best left to China.

Italy is perfectly placed in this respect, just look at how many world-class brands it has, be they cars, fashion, design, whatever.

This all points to just how appallingly badly managed the country has been over the past 20 years or so. Wrong tax policies, wrongly applied and not properly enforced.

 

Well it appears that Italy desires to keep its third-world status. The government doesn't want wealthy people to keep their wealth there, and the wealthy people don't want to give the government their wealth.

C'est la vie.

 

As I said, if you can provide an alternative that ISN'T blatantly self serving, I will listen. Moral, judicial (not sure what judicial grounds you'd object to taxes on) or practical grounds could all fit that, though they could all be self serving as well.