MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'evasion'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 02:58:08 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4953362&cid=t_447020_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2FiSdaty5lPS4%2F Most everyone enjoys the challenge of minimizing their taxes. Drugmakers are no exception. But consider Schering-Plough, which engaged Merrill Lynch nearly 20 years ago to concoct a complicated interest rate swap involving a pair of subsidiaries, but was hit with a $473 million tax bill in 2004 after a federal court decided its gambit was just that - a ploy to evade taxes. Yesterday, a federal appeals court not only upheld that ruling, but chastised the drugmaker - which is now owned by Merck - for offering arguments that were described as disingenuous and for displaying way too much chutzpah. Of course, chutzpah can be a good thing, but overdoing it in arguments before a federal appeals court can invite disdain. Just ask the Merck lawyers. The upshot is that Merck is not entitled to a n... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4953362 Tue, 21 Jun 2011 12:35:57 +0100 4953362 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4536051&cid=t_447020_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FPzWOR-NmY5s%2F By Daniel J. MitchellHere's a new mini-documentary from the Center for Freedom and Prosperity, narrated by Natasha Montague of Americans for Tax Reform, that explains why the process of tax competition is a critical constraint on the propensity of governments to over-tax and over-spend. The issue is very simple. When labor and capital have the ability to escape bad policy by moving across borders, politicians are more likely to realize that it is foolish to impose high tax rates. And they oftentimes compete for jobs and investment by lowering tax rates. This virtuous form of rivalry helps explain why so many nations in recent years have lowered tax rates and adopted simple and fair flat tax systems. Another great feature of the video is the series of quotes from winners of the Nobel Prize... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4536051 Tue, 01 Mar 2011 20:41:13 +0100 4536051 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4389176&cid=t_447020_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FxPMowgGLFf4%2F By Daniel J. MitchellThere’s a supposed expose’ in the U.K.-based Daily Mail about how major British companies have subsidiaries in low-tax jurisdictions. It even includes this table with the ostensibly shocking numbers. This is quite akin to the propaganda issued by American statists. Here’s a table from a report issued by a left-wing group that calls itself “Business and Investors Against Tax Haven Abuse.” At the risk of being impolite, I’ll ask the appropriate rhetorical question: What do these tables mean? Are the leftists upset that multinational companies exist? If so, there’s really no point in having a discussion. Are they angry that these firms are legally trying to minimize tax? If so, they must not understand that management has a fidu... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4389176 Mon, 24 Jan 2011 00:32:12 +0100 4389176 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4349496&cid=t_447020_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2F-ayb1xioRpc%2F By David BoazAdvocates of limited government often worry about how to maintain republican government and freedom if a substantial portion of the population don’t pay taxes and are net beneficiaries of government largesse. Lately, it seems like a lot of the advocates of bigger government and higher taxes don’t pay their own taxes — like Tom Daschle, Timothy Geithner, Eleanor Holmes Norton, Charles Rangel, Al Franken, Governor David Paterson’s top aide, Democratic National Convention staffers, Al Sharpton, and so on. Now the Washington Post has found another one: Since joining the D.C. Council two years ago, Michael A. Brown has become the chief advocate for raising taxes on the city’s wealthiest residents, arguing that those who earn at least $250,000 a year ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4349496 Fri, 14 Jan 2011 20:02:46 +0100 4349496 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3954224&cid=t_447020_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FAnycXvlRsU8%2F By Daniel J. MitchellI sympathize with almost all taxpayers, but it’s difficult to feel sorry for government workers who get in trouble with the IRS. Compensation packages for federal bureaucrats are twice as lucrative as those for workers in the productive sector of the economy and their pensions are similarly extravagant. Yet they often can’t be bothered to fully pay their taxes, owing billions of dollars to the IRS according to a Washington Post report. Among the biggest scofflaws are the folks at the Postal Service, who have accumulated more than $283 million of unpaid taxes. Retired bureaucrats, meanwhile, have amassed nearly $455 million of back taxes. Even tax collectors sometimes fall behind. Treasury Department bureaucrats owe $7.7 million. How hard can it be for them ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3954224 Thu, 09 Sep 2010 19:08:47 +0100 3954224 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3929218&cid=t_447020_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FcIecKUx-rM0%2F By Daniel J. MitchellHere’s a Reuters story about the Australian Tax Office harassing Paul Hogan, better known to Americans as Crocodile Dundee, because of a tax dispute. The grinches at the tax office took advantage of Hogan’s return for his mother’s funeral to hold him hostage, refusing to let him leave the country until he coughs up some cash. It appears that the tax police in Australia are just as politicized and above the law as the IRS. Hogan has never been charged with tax evasion and there are plenty of signs that the bureaucrats want to make him a high-profile victim to justify the amount of money that has been squandered in a probe of supposed offshore evasion. Actor Paul Hogan, star of the “Crocodile Dundee” movies, has vowed to continue fighting ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3929218 Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:02:34 +0100 3929218 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3826998&cid=t_447020_83_f&fid=34856&url=http%3A%2F%2Finsidesurgery.com%2F2010%2F08%2Forthopedic-surgeon-dr-brian-keith-ellefsen-sentenced-tax-evasion%2F Southwest Missouri orthopedic surgeon Dr. Brian Keith Ellefsen and his brother Mark Ellefsen have been sentenced to prison for their felony conviction on tax evasion charges. (Source: Inside Surgery) Inside Surgery blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3826998 Fri, 06 Aug 2010 02:02:26 +0100 3826998 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3526729&cid=t_447020_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FGl-Vi6sm0QU%2F This study also emphasizes that where people perceive the tax rate as too high, an increase in the (marginal) tax rate will lead to a decrease in tax revenue. It is worth noting the Schneider’s research also shows why Obama’s tax policy is very misguided. The President wants to boost the top tax rate by nearly five percentage points, and that’s on top of the big increase in the tax rate on saving and investment included in Obamacare. Based on Schneider’s research, we can expect America’s underground economy to expand. Shifting back to Greece, Schneider does not claim that tax rates are the only factor determining compliance. But his research indicates that more onerous enforcement regimes are unlikely to put much of a dent in tax evasion unless accompanied by ... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3526729 Mon, 03 May 2010 12:41:10 +0100 3526729 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3106721&cid=t_447020_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FOJIqNAfpXes%2F By Daniel J. MitchellGerman politicians apparently have been hot on the trail of evil evaders who did not pay tax on coffee ordered over the Internet. To address this terrible crisis, the government spent 800,000 euro and tracked down 4000 dangerous criminals. Shockingly, a few cynics, including the folks at Reuters, are trying to diminish this triumph by pointing out that the government spent 30 times more than it collected: Germany spent more than 30 times as much collecting taxes on coffee beans ordered online from abroad than it received in the tax revenues, the accounting office said on Tuesday. Some 4,000 Germans who bought coffee over the Internet from other EU countries but failed to pay the coffee tax have been charged between a few cents to 10 euros ($14.81) in taxes and fees, sa... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3106721 Sat, 19 Dec 2009 22:20:10 +0100 3106721 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2667402&cid=t_447020_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FY7hHnHE4ohw%2F My friend Pierre Bessard of Switzlerand’s Liberales Institut has a columnin today’s New York Times defending financial privacy from the predations of both international bureaucracies and American tax collectors. Pierre sagely notes that the Swiss system respects the privacy of citizens, unlike the “Orwellian” systems in places like America. This approach results in a very high level of tax compliance in Switzerland, and also provides a refuge for oppressed people around the world: …for us here in Switzerland, our financial privacy laws are a foundation for individual dignity and basic property rights. Unfortunately, the confidentiality that is the hallmark of Swiss banking is coming under increasing pressure. … We think government exists to serve us, no... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2667402 Mon, 03 Aug 2009 16:13:54 +0100 2667402 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=817760&cid=t_447020_150_f&fid=35777&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2F%7Er%2FPharmalot%2F%7E3%2F147292243%2F Which ones? Pfizer, Lilly and AstraZeneca. And the State Tax Inspectorate maintains all three may be costing Lithuania’s treasury 29 million Euros, or more than $39 million annually. The controversy stems from an audit, since 2005, that concluded the drugmakers’ Lithuanian branches, which are supposedly limited to marketing, were in fact engaged in trading activities, and therefore should be taxed on products sold. “Activity of some undertakings in Lithuania is not limited to marketing functions alone, i.e. the collected data shows that in fact, trading activity is also in place,” Darius Alinskas, the STI’s Deputy Head, tells The Baltic Times. “During the tax audit, evaded taxes shall be estimated and sanctions anticipated in tax laws shall be applied, i.e. surchar... Pharmalot blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=817760 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 12:03:17 +0100 817760