Paying Taxes

[fnord_too]

Are you planning on paying taxes on any poker winnings?
I appologize if this poll has appeared before.

[GWB]

What your poll choices really mean:

1) I am honest
2) I am a thief
3) I am only a petty thief
4) I am incompetent

[razor]

What your poll choices really mean:

1) n/a
2) I am Canadian
3) n/a
4) n/a

[moondogg]

[ QUOTE ]
What your poll choices really mean:

1) I am honest
2) I am a thief
3) I am only a petty thief
4) I am incompetent

[/ QUOTE ]

Number (4) would also mean "I am honest". Only one person so far (out of 32) has acknowleged being a loser this year.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

2) I am a thief

Not really. Read "Will: The Autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy" and pay special attention to his explication of the concepts of *malum in se* and *malum prohibitum*

The tax laws as they apply to gambling are draconian. Where the "thieves" sit on this one is ethically a matter of opinion.

[CollegePlayer]

If I were alive during the WWII and hid Jews in my home, would it make me immoral?

[El Barto]

Comparing the morality of following tax laws and protecting persecuted people is silly.

[drewjustdrew]

I don't think it is that silly. It is a matter of civil disobedience. The question is: are you willing to go to jail for your beliefs, or are you going to try and weasel your way out of trouble if caught?

[CollegePlayer]

[ QUOTE ]
Comparing the morality of following tax laws and protecting persecuted people is silly.

[/ QUOTE ]
The analogy is extreme, but the point is that the individual has to decide what is moral and what is immoral.

[BarronVangorToth]

[ QUOTE ]
If I were alive during the WWII and hid Jews in my home, would it make me immoral?

[/ QUOTE ]


We should have an additional poll as to who is offended by this analogy.


Barron Vangor Toth
www.BarronVangorToth.com (http://www.BarronVangorToth.com)

[CollegePlayer]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If I were alive during the WWII and hid Jews in my home, would it make me immoral?

[/ QUOTE ]


We should have an additional poll as to who is offended by this analogy.


Barron Vangor Toth
www.BarronVangorToth.com (http://www.BarronVangorToth.com)

[/ QUOTE ]
Why? There were laws in Germany which forbad assisting jews. As GW stated, morality is determined by the government.

[fnurt]

The analogy is useless. The prisons are full of people who disagreed with the laws. They are not all heroes.

People who hid Jews in wartime Germany risked their lives to do what they felt was right. The leaders of the civil rights movement risked their lives to do what they felt was right. In both cases, many of those who risked their lives also paid with them. It's not that the comparison is offensive, it's just tragic that anyone actually feels there is a reasonable analogy here.

When I jaywalk across the street to pick up a slice of pizza for lunch, that does not make me the ideological heir to Martin Luther King, Jr.

[Roy Hobbs]

Thank you. Nice post.

[GWB]

[ QUOTE ]
As GW stated, morality is determined by the government.

[/ QUOTE ]

Reread my post, I never said that. Saying someone is a thief is more of a legal definition as opposed to a moral one.

I agree with the others that your Holocaust morality comparison with paying taxes is quite over the top.

[Zele]

[ QUOTE ]
Read "Will: The Autobiography of G. Gordon Liddy" and pay special attention to his explication of the concepts of *malum in se* and *malum prohibitum*

[/ QUOTE ]

You're the second person I've heard recommend that book in a month. Is it really a good read, or are you joking around?

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

Excellent book. You don't have to be a fan of Liddy's politics to be fascinated.

[dogmeat]

FWIW, I mentioned the other day that I had paid my quarterly taxes, but I was not thinking that day. Actually, the IRS sent me two forms and envelopes to make just a couple semi-annual payments of estimated tax. My second one is not due until Jan 18. Not a bad way to go, as it forces you to send them a little something.

Dogmeat /images/graemlins/spade.gif

[TaxGoddess]

As a tax attorney for the IRS ( /images/graemlins/cool.gif ), I must strongly encourage full reporting any and all winnings. Of course we can deduct any losses to the extent of our winnings.

[Rudbaeck]

Definitely NOT.

Fortunately I live in a country where the legislative body is sane. So I don't even have to violate the law to do so.

People who live in the US and derive a vast part of their income from online gambling should SERIOUSLY think about emigration. Canada is close, the UK still has people talking your language, and Sweden has tall blondes. Tough choice. (I think there are more tax free gambling havens.)

[SevenStuda]

Do the right thing.

-Dimitri