Canada to Give IRS Tax Info on Americans Living North of Border

The Obama Administration has distinguished itself as relentless in its efforts to close offshore tax havens. The Cayman Islands, Costa Rica, even Switzerland have agreed to work with the US Treasury to illuminate dodgy bank accounts. The administration's latest triumph of revenue accumulation is an agreement with Canada. The accord, according to an article in the Toronto newspaper The Globe and Mail, opens the door for the Canadian government to "start routinely (share) vast amounts of financial data about Americans living in Canada with U.S. tax authorities."

Image: passport.gc.ca

"The scope of the agreement," the story noted in an interview with an accounting professional, "is much broader than most people realize...virtually all companies in Canada -- from small family-run businesses to multinationals -- will soon be asked by their banks to provide more information on the tax status of their shareholders."

Approximately one million Yanks or dual US/Canadian passport holders live north of the American border. Oh, Canada!

IRS Considers Taxing Perks At Iconic Silicon Valley Firms

Photo: applieddatalabs.com

The Mercury News reported today that the Internal Revenue Service is rumored to be considering a tax on free meals employees offered at major Silicon Valley firms. The story offers a revealing glimpse into the sense of entitlement employees at firms such as Google and Facebook embrace.

One former Google employee was quoted as maintaining the free food was not "compensation," but "a phenomenal convenience..." Apparently, that line of reasoning was sufficient to dodge the taxman. Meanwhile, the Mercury News article cited a story from the late, lamented Gourmet magazine raving about the Google dining room's sensational cuisine, including "'porcini-encrusted grass-fed beef.'" That's not exactly "convenience" food. Some of the Valley's employees and chefs claimed the high-quality dining was essential to a firm's culture, growth prospects, and hiring attractiveness.

The meals were for everyday employees, and not restricted to executive dining rooms. Somehow, the brains that turn out the secret sauce known as "proprietary algorithms" could not possibly function effectively without tax-free meals. The tech firms and their satellite dependencies would have one believe that instituting a government levy on corporate cafeterias would somehow diminish the appeal of working in the global epicenter of technological innovation. Sorry, I'm not buying it.

I admit I typically don't pay tax for my work lunches. Then again, I usually bring my own lunch from home. I manage.

Dionne Warwick Sings Bankruptcy Song to IRS

Dionne Warwick, whose music has consistently sold since her debut in the 1960s, filed for Chapter Seven bankruptcy this week. It turns out the singer owed the IRS over a million dollars in back taxes. According to an article in Rolling Stone, Warwick tried to pay what the feds were due. However, penalties and interest foiled her efforts to set the books straight with Uncle Sam and, presumably, state government tax authorities.

The 72-year-old Warwick can now move forward financially, although her credit score is probably shattered for the remainder of her days. Don't be surprised if Dionne makes a lot of personal appearances, so that she can make her reported $20,000 per month "living expenses."

Attorney with Links to George H.W. Bush Files Complaint to Remove Anti-Fox News Media Matters' Tax-Exempt Status

Media Matters for America, a liberal non-profit organization which has virulently criticized Fox News and the Murdoch media empire, has become a target of right-wing legal action. In a recent complaint filed with the IRS, C. Boyden Gray, former President George H.W. Bush's White House counsel, requested the agency revoke Media Matters' tax-exempt status. His reasoning, according to an article by award-winning Fox Business News reporter Elizabeth MacDonald, was that Media Matters "'has executed a partisan strategy,' in violation of U.S. tax law as it exists 'no longer to educate the public but, rather, to declare 'war on FOX (sic),' Gray says, quoting from an interview its founder David Brock (photo), gave to the website Politico."

The story also reveals evidence Gray cited as proof of Media Matters' intent. His IRS complaint, MacDonald's piece noted, asserted that the nonprofit attempted "to disrupt News Corp.'s purchase of BSkyB, a British satellite broadcaster, and its efforts "to turn regulators in the U.S., U.K., and elsewhere against the network."

Gray's concern to mighty Media Matters kicking sand in the Murdoch empire's collective face didn't stop with BSkyB. "Gray writes that aside from Media Matters' 'unsupportable attempt to tie FOX News to the Republican Party, the fact that Media Matters equates FOX News' with the GOP shows the nonprofit's 'own partisan intent.'"

Gray's story, part of a much longer three-part article by MacDonald, appeared on Fox News' website this morning.

The former White House counsel's "evidence" certainly made the rationale for attack clear enough. Big, bad Media Matters tried to block the BSkyB deal. The Murdoch clan is clearly upset their carefully staged plan to seize total control of the UK's single most valuable media asset was thwarted. Their revenge and counterattack, which is probably in its earliest stages, has taken this primitive form. Meanwhile, the notion of associating Fox and the Murdoch media behemoth with the GOP and conservative causes is just plain common sense. When I initially read the piece, I thought Gray was pursuing this line of reasoning to get a bar room laugh. Alas, George Herbert Walker Bush's former legal eagle was quite serious about it.

One irritant Gray wants to rub out is Brock's venture. The Bush-41 coterie has deeply disliked Brock, a Republican and Bush-era political apostate who has since become a vocal critic of right-wing tactics and objectives. Brock was mixed up with the Anita Hill hearings and performed some dirty work on behalf of Bush and then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas in that episode.

Gray has vehemently denied any link to Fox, Murdoch, or anything or anyone but himself. He just had time on his hands, and a bone to pick with Media Matters. Maybe Gray just doesn't see the nonprofit as "fair and balanced."

Perhaps there's another reason. Since the UK phone jacking scandal exploded, it has seemed inevitable that the Murdoch empire would strike back against its accusers. August gave News Corp. and the Murdoch family time to catch its collective breath, formulate a counterattacking strategy, call in favors, and use its "leverage." (Some suspect that News Corp.'s attempts at "persuasion" are really nothing more than thinly disguised blackmail threats.) The dreadful debt debacle and shameful downgrade of the United States' credit rating provide further cover for News Corp. The firm, and the Murdoch family, are not the current headline, at least in the United States. The UK, where everyday people felt violated by News Corp.'s reporters' routine phone tapping, is another matter. The disposition of Gray's legal complaint remains to be seen. However, one can assume the Murdochs and News Corp. will soon be on the march, defending Fox News against "scurrilous" attacks from liberal think tanks virtually no one knows or pays attention to.