I don't disagree with you, but it does seem like they go after the low hanging fruit first, which is regular guys. If the biggest corporations can change their head office locations and therefore get taxed much less on their profits, and have the law on their side, then it doesn't seem fair that the government picks on the little guys first. But they do, once again, because they know they can. The small guy cannot afford to buy politicians who make the laws. The bigger you are, the more you can get away with.
They go after illegal activities first then look to close Loopholes cause the letter involves other executive branches and is harder to do. Someone who files intentionally false commits a crime and should be punished. If every country pursued the taxes owed like the US does then there was no European crisis, especially no Greek one.
Once again, I do agree with you, but there is this feeling of uneasiness that the rules are set up in such a way that if you're big enough or rich, everything works in your favor. (ie. taxes on income earned from work versus from investments) Even worse, when you're big and rich and you do something wrong, the hit you experience is only financial, but the little guys usually go to jail. When it comes to corporations, there is supposedly nobody to jail and there is only a fine, so small that its just the cost of doing business. So although I fully understand that one might be a loophole vs. illegal, the loophole should almost be illegal if the politicians weren't actually working for the rich instead of the general public.
So what? When was that ever different in human history? Go and stage a coup if you can collect enough signatures. Until then I recommend not wasting time looking at what others do and have and what not, I but instead focus on being content with what you have. Try it...
Once again, I don't disagree, but if every single corporation designated another country as their tax base, the rules would very quickly have to change since revenue collected would drop drastically. There is much to be said about sustainability. Yes, its always best to be on the forefront of some new scheme and of course what's best for you as an individual is usually in direction opposition to what is best for a big group (ie. the rest of the country), but I'm not sure if life would be as good as it is now if everyone always acted in just their own interests without thinking of the big picture. One of the huge problems these days, which is a quote from somewhere else, goes along the lines of how costs are always socialized, but profits are privatized. This is not sustainable. Looking at what others are doing is actually exactly what you have to do. If you don't look, you don't see the injustices and they are allowed to continue.
I would also like to add that what I think needs to done, or the only way for things to change, is for everyone to take advantage of every loophole. It's that adage, "if you can't beat them, join them." Since loopholes aren't illegal, once enough people use them, and the system is drained dry, a change will be forced upon those who make the rules. So in essence, I do think people should take advantage of every single loophole available to them, its the only way to make that change. Crying about it doesn't work. But I know most won't, only the smartest and most motivated, which sadly isn't very many at all. The system run by the elite monopolizes on the fact that most people are too tired after a full day of work to get involved, too uneducated to know how much they are being taken advantage of, etc. As long as they can make enough to get the latest iPhone and a Netflix account, sadly, they are content.
IMO ....... It's total BS the info you have to provided to open a trading account. A trading account should be no different than a savings/checking account. I'm in Canada and I recently opened up a 2nd trading account and savings/checking account with TD Canada Trust. The savings/checking account was completed online in a few minutes and I got the account number immediately - the trading account required me to visit a TD Canada Trust branch in person and provided employment records and it took a week to activate the account. If they are worried about money laundering then they should be anal about how you fund the account and that would apply to trading accounts and savings/checking accounts.
I didn't know you could open a trading account with TD Canada Trust... What's the difference between opening a SureTrader account vs a TD Canada Trust account? Is there a 25k minimum deposit?
No minimum deposit or inactivity fees with TD Canada Trust (TD Direct Investing). Option trading fees are $9.99 plus $1.25 per contract.
Then why the hell have I created a SureTrader account and provided all this information? Is it fit for doing day trading? Why would one create a SureTrader/SpeedTrader account vs a TD Canada Trust account? I'm a complete beginner at this, so please bare with me!