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Jazzman
ParticipantIt may be so, but if you are paying withholding to PR, and not federal tax that sounds like a dual taxation convention coming into play. Are you also saying the IRS waives CGT if you are non-resident? I’d think, either you don’t report everything to the IRS (you get about an $80k exemption anyway), or you have to give up your citizenship, if you want to avoid/evade taxes. If you do that of course you’ll get hammered with an exit tax. They’ve pretty much got you by the short and curlies.
April 4, 2013 at 1:39 AM in reply to: Obama administration pushes banks to make home loans to people with weaker credit #760990ParticipantBut isn’t part of the problem that the private sector just can’t compete with the government’s favorable terms?
ParticipantI thought you still have to file returns in the US on world-wide income, even if no longer resident. It’s probably more aimed at businesses.
ParticipantLooks like Cyprus has rejected the levy deal and is going cap in hand back the Russians, who want rights to their offshore gas. Cyprus would probably be better off remaining in the EU, but have their backs to the wall. It’s their own fault. I don’t understand why they can’t just raise taxes elsewhere. Nationalizing corporate pensions seems like stealing as well.
ParticipantSK has it right. A year of nothing, and then boom! Everything can fly up in your face. The higher the cap rate, the greater the risk. If you don’t want the hassles invest into your demographic, and you might get one extra night’s sleep, but not the yield.
If I were a FTB, I’d stick with renting. The problem is that many are spurred on by the frustrations of buying in this market. The scratch begets the itch. It feeds on itself, and the obsession grows exponentially with the frustration.
Many overlook the costs of ownership, which are the same as they are for investors. Many of my young neighbors seem to be maxed out, just to get into the ownership game. Some now can’t afford a decent car, or nice furniture, or even to landscape their yards. It requires two incomes, even with kids, and many seem to hate their work. Is that a life?
Participant[quote=patb]german taxpayers won’t pay for the bailout.[/quote]
This is certainly one aspect of it, and the IMF seems to have been pushing hardest for this levy. This has been building for awhile, with large protests against austerity that have not grabbed media attention prior to now. Cyprus depends on tourism, foreign retirees and it’s banking sector. It is a tax haven. So it’s not just a banking sector bailout, since the economy is affected. The route of the problem was exposure to Greek debt. Cyprus is divided into the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot (occupied) side. The Greek Cypriots have always maintained strong links with Greece.Russians account for nearly 50% of deposits, and Brits make up a large number of retirees due to favorable tax treatment. I believe income tax used to be on a remittance basis, not on world wide income, and there is no CGT. There is money laundering, probably on a big scale, so a clean up is the quid pro quo for the bailout. We’ve seen big anti money laundering and tax evasion tactics by European and US powers. The message is if you want the benefits of club membership, play by the rules. I don’t think you would get away with this levy in the PIGS countries. Cyprus has always been bullied.
Participant[quote=spdrun]^^^
So why not just restrict the tax to non-citizen (or non-EU citizen) deposits?[/quote]
I think essentially that is what it is, but then it’s not just non-citizens who are involved.ParticipantSeems banks can stop electronic transfers, but not ATM withdrawals. 50% of depositors (funds) are Russian. I haven’t heard whether the tax is retroactive. Never say never, but I don’t think this will be mirrored across Greece, Italy or Spain. It seems pretty clear to me the quid pro quo is being aimed at dirty money. The Cypriot economy is too small to drag down the Euro zone.
ParticipantThe Germans asked for the tax and have been accusing the Cypriots of laundering Russian money. Go figure. Russians are obviously feeling guilty and have already offered to help. Money for the Bosnian conflict was funneled through Cypriot banks, so they’re not innocents. It’s also a low tax environment at least for expats, so it looks even more like a punitive anti tax evasion move. I lived in Cyprus. Nice little island, and has the only divided city left in the world. Turkey is probably smirking in the background, and Germany is probably glad Turkey was turned down from membership. I think one cause of the problem was Cypriot investment in Greece.
ParticipantWe have an Apple TV, an internet TV and cable box. The cable box rarely get turned on. They consume a lot of electricity, and you get something like 200 channels of mostly rubbish. The problem is we would only be saving about $25 a month if we ditched it and just went with the 70 or so free channels.
Apple TV connects via wifi and has a much more user friendly interface. It’s also cheaper since the mainstay of it is Netflix. It offers movies, documentaries TV shows, podcasts, radio and connects up with your Mac. Unfortunately, we’ve seen many of the good news podcasts dropped, and movies are not updated as frequently as they should be. There is a dedicated sports channel. Hulu is an add-on to Apple TV and broadens the choice, but for the extra you pay doesn’t seem worth it IMO.
The Internet TV we have is a flat screen that can surf the internet. It’s a little like Apple TV, but has YouTube, Amazon movies and other mostly superfluous stuff. We’ve noticed the surfing speeds to be slow, so actual web-based TV is not good. It has no cable box so gets just the 70 free channels.
I believe TV on demand is the future, and cable will die a slow death if it doesn’t embrace on-demand. That way you just pay for what you want.
I live in a condo/townhouse complex and we all pay individually. This makes sense unless your association can negotiate big discounts. Individuals could then elect whether they want a cable box or not, and pay the difference themselves, or just go the Apple TV route and only pay the Netflix subscription.
Remember that cable is bundled with telephone and internet, and your provider may not offer much of a discount if you detached cable.
Participant“[C]onsumer choices drive the wealth inequality.” I don’t think it is so much the choices, as the beast needs to feed to grow. I’m not clear where growth ends, and I don’t believe meaningful change is possible, until a monumental event changes it, such as a depression, or a war or both. Taxes will redistribute the wealth, but that won’t happen until industrial leaders are weaned on a more socially responsible teat, and politicians are brave enough to make sacrifices.
ParticipantEconprof if you read the commentary, the film maker had to edit down to three minutes, and the video does reference income. One would hope it is a teaser to sequels that flesh out who these super rich are, how they accumulated their wealth, and how a more even distribution is achieved. I think what is unsettling is the notion that concentrations of wealth and its corollary power, are reminiscent of an era we associate with a less evolved society, where access to the political process, education, and opportunity is discriminatory. I don’t think we are devolving in that sense, but the wealth concentration phenomenon needs to be examined in the context of the overall health of a society. Ironically, you might find similarly huge disparities in China and Russia, and if comparing rich and poor countries the divide is very apparent again. Time magazine recently did a study of the Nordic model where societal mores are in lockstep with a consensual process. A hybrid Freidman socialism. It works, but the question of adapting it on a large scale presents challenges.
Participant[quote=patb]I think anyone who wants to buy small scale out of state rental property should have their head examined.
No agent will ever do a good job, and the distance makes it a bad idea.
Unless you are close to retiring or moving, i’d forget it.
now if it’s reasonably close, sure.[/quote]
Yes and no. You are right in that it is counter intuitive, but modern communications helps remove one barrier. Many current investors are reluctant lanlords who aren’t able to get the return they want anywhere else, and the chances of finding that perfect cash flowing property on your own doorstep is often remote. Like any investment it is a risk you take, and requires that you manage your managers. I have remodeled, rented out and sold properties successfully across national borders without leaving home. The one job I wouldn’t want is a property manager’s so I respect the crap they have to put up with, and make allowances. Property managers are not the worst thing that can happen, but you do need to keep an eye on them.
ParticipantI agree, good credit doesn’t mean good tenant. Credit checks assumes the problem is always with the tenant. It can be the landlord (you), property manager, or any number of external factors. One of my most troublesome tenants was a senior banker. My least troublesome tenants lived under my roof. Property managers account for 15% of my headaches. Maintenance the rest.
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