There's a moral battle going on in my mind. A friend of mine. One of the best, if not the best. ,,Saved my ass'' multiple times. So the trust is strong. He has this money. (5 digits in cash) The money isn't from drugs, prostitution or other dark activities, it was made through his hobbies in the last 10 years. (nothing to hide, he was reselling/flipping desktop computer hardware parts & accessories & all of those were acquired in legal ways) But ( there's always a but... ), - he haven't paid a single coin of taxes, from those profits & activity itself. Here's the question : in my place, would you take it & invest it ? ( hes willing to give it, actually the offer came from him, but, i would have to do that via my account ) Benefit for me - 20% of the profits. Thanks for replies.
It's very simple. Once i take it, i stays with me , for the rest of my life, the knowing that i took in something, that was acquired - partially in illegal way. (avoiding profit taxes from individual activity/business)
The government would have taken that money and murdered some poor people. So you're doing those poor people a favor.
Sure , take it , don't make a mistake like I did myself for few times , when an opportunity presents itself you grab it without hesitation , unless its drug money. Most small businesses don't pay their share of taxes in this country , so I would do it.
That's some perspective. There is an honest , moral excuse to do so. When i question my why, it's not the yachts or 100 bedroom palaces. It's projects that could be built, with all of that wealth ( dream level ) Missed opportunities, - that doesn't worry me. It's more of a morals and principles. Now i see where the ego plays a shadow part. Till now i kinda considered myself a ,,better man" than people who take it. But what's the point, if one misses a chance to bring a greater good by sacraficing his own principles.
A philosopher once said: What good is it for a man to gain the world yet lose his own soul in the process? Here's the kicker: there is no soul, this is all there is.
I would not invest anyone else's money, no matter how much/how little they put forward, nor how they got it. In my mind, its morally wrong to do that anyway, so the question of taxes does not arise. Maybe in your sub-conscious you are also hesitant about taking money, any money, but you're looking for a reason on morally higher ground to back away?.................
I don't believe how the other party gained the capital is relevant to whether/how you invest/trade it. The relevant questions are in going forward. • Taxing Authority issues: what will they see? • Time/Risk/Performance issues: what are the agreed terms? One read of your statements above has you taking title to the capital. Is it in fact yours? And you're simply to *give* the original owner 80% of the net take? Who's taking the tax burden? If it's through structured accounts, then you both are. If it's just you, then you need to question the legality AND the morality of that tax situation going forward. (And the common sense: if you make a dollar, the government will want 30¢, the neighbor will want 20¢, and you get 50¢, AND a blot on your financials, should you ever get audited, Holy Cow.) The second issue is with regard to the termination point. Whether by time ("5 years or bust.") or by situation ("5 years or bust."), what happens if this guy dies next month? What happens if the net liq. gets hit by 30%? 40%? "Shit happens" -- are they cognizant? What happens if you have a parting of friendly relations? Termination has to be spelled out plainly -- whether by time, by situation, or by performance. Having the market go against you and then having a half-informed "client" call you is not a situation that anyone needs. If all of your trading is end-of-day or once a month, this may not be a big deal. But if you're spinning this capital in with your own, and you're assembling $hundreds or $thousands in trading commissions in moving things around, you do NOT want to have half-shady arrangements hanging over your brain.
No. You shouldn't. For the simple reason you would risk losing those monies! As for the taxes, when filthy rich billionaires cheat on their taxes every way but, Sunday, just keep it quiet!