🚢 Hit The Deck, Europe!

Hey, It’s our launch day! 🚀

How to make your tax filing seamless? With our new product, that’s how! Salaried individuals can now directly upload Form 16 and investors/traders can directly import their trades by logging into their brokerage account. Taxpayers can also choose from over 50 different deductions and maximize their tax refund! Read more to simplify your taxes! #TaxSeason2020

🚢 Hit the deck, Europe! The route to becoming the first carbon-neutral continent

The shipping industry accounts for over 80% of global trade by volume and almost 50,000 ships are crisscrossing the Earth. But the amount of fuel these giants burn is colossal. CO2 emissions have accounted for almost 3% of the global greenhouse emissions according to CNN. This is equivalent to the emissions of Germany.

A shipping tax is on its way to counter this and also raise billions by charging ships for their pollution. The commission plans to spend nearly 30% of its €750b ($889b) coronavirus recovery fund in its next 7-year budget. Extending the law to the marine sector and requiring airlines to pay more for their pollution could generate €10 billion ($11.8 billion) a year.

Justification by the EU states that the emissions from factories and power stations have fallen by one-third since a similar law was imposed in 2005. Coal was replaced by renewable sources of energy. The member states generated €14b ($16.6b) from allowances and spent 70% of that money ‘climate and energy-related purposes.’ Also, a 90% reduction in carbon emissions is needed by 2050 to achieve climate neutrality.

🚫 A trade block cannot be denied. Hapag-Lloyd (a German shipping giant)  stated that a more ‘global solution’ should be pursued. There should be equal treatment and a similar law for all shipping lines in the world. A neck to neck trade war has already brewed up between the EU and the USA over aircraft subsidies to Airbus and Boeing. Washington is resorting to tariffs worth $7.5b on EU goods and Brussels has already responded with retaliatory taxes on US goods.

Will Europe have to haul it’s shipping tax? 

💵 Wealth Tax, Yet Again?

California is loaded! 💰 Around 25% of all US billionaires reside in California. There also comes a high tax reputation for the state with these big-earners. Recently, lawmakers have proposed to raise the state’s already aggressive 13.3% tax rate to 16.8%. The Assembly Bill will also apply a 0.4% wealth tax. Yes, you heard it right! The nation’s first Wealth Tax proposal on about 30,400 Californians. This will raise approx 7.5 billion dollars annually for the government. Now the questions are, how will they determine the value of assets that aren’t on the market? And what about the individuals who will make a run to other states with lower tax rates?

Lawmakers have got it all figured out by using the ‘phased-in approach.’ This means that wealth tax will be imposed at diminishing rates on residents who are planning to leave the state. Not shocked yet? Well, Californians who moved within the past decade will also be subjected to the same.

Alas! California is a pricey place to live!

💰 The Tax Collector

Remember when we told you that the American actor Shia LaBeouf has permanently tattooed his chest to play his role as a Cholo gangster in the movie The Tax Collector? Well, it looks like all the black ink did its magic. This movie is dominating charts. In fact, it’s numero uno on the Digital Entertainment Group’s “Watched at Home Top 20,” this week!

It competed with last week’s topper Trolls 2! 😂 To all the people out there, here’s our take – your dedication always pays you back! And don’t forget to pay your taxes…who knows your tax collector may pay you a visit? 

‘How the turntables’ 

In your time on this earth, you must have heard the woes and cries of people wanting an “American Citizenship.” Even on the political front, immigration is one of the most trending and talked about topics. However, what if we tell you some people want to abandon this citizenship?

No, we’re not talking about an alternate universe here. Every year many Americans give up their citizenship to avoid the IRS (US equivalent of Income Tax Department) and taxes forever. 

The U.S. Treasury Department has to publish the names of individuals who renounce their U.S. citizenship or handed in their long-term green card. The total for the year 2020 should be over 10,000 people! The reasons for renouncing are usually related to family, tax, and legal complications. 

Though, now even leaving America is costly! Be it $2,350 to hand in your passport or proving five years of IRS tax compliance…

Landing in your inbox next Thursday…

Amazon avoided $11b federal tax in 2017, somehow managed a rebate of $129m in 2018, and paid only 1.2% tax on $13,285,000,000 in profit for 2019. Amazon received a $3.4b tax gift from NYC for ‘HQ2’ in 2019. The deal was that Amazon would bring in  25,000 new jobs by end of June 2018. But 2 days ago it announced that it would add 2k new jobs at NYC’s Lord and Taylor building. 

⚔️ Honor lies to die in the war! – Crazy Tax Story

In medieval England, it was a great privilege to be called up to the war in service of the king. But if a knight didn’t fancy risking life and limb in battle, they could pay a fee – a ‘scutage tax’ – to skip an odd fight or two.

It was started in 1100 by King Henry I ( reigned from 1100-1135). The tax was relatively low during this era. However, King John raised the tax by 300%. And he started collecting taxes even in years in which there were no wars. Surprisingly, the charge lasted 300 long years.

Joining England’s cowardice-tax-wagon were Germany and France in the 14th Century. 

💭 Byte of The Day