Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

I remember the Tax Dodge schemes of the past when marginal tax rates were high. All kinds of ridiculous, goofy little businesses, like raising lamas, were set up to shelter income. Though obviously unjustifiable on economic grounds, as something interesting, and as employers of various-skilled people, they were optimal ways of building the economy and creating jobs. Sailing colonies? Rural hiking zones? Designer umbrellas? Capella singing competitions? Crazy stuff but these things were just the kind of stimulus that creates new jobs & opportunities. Government could never directly entice some rich guy to manage an ostrich farm that employs half-a-dozen people, but that same guy will work for free, even do dirty work, to finance an enjoyable hobby, or just to keep his hard-earned cash away from “government.” Which is worse: an underground economy, working in the shadows, doing essentially the same thing, or all those newly-employed people proudly claiming to be productive tax-paying citizens?

Tax Evasion is putting your money in an Off-shore account & lying about it; Tax Dodging is starting a Classic Airplane restoration club because you like Classic Airplanes, that happens to generate a million dollars worth of payroll. Yeah, the government didn't receive 35% of that money directly from you, but the economy wouldn't have benefited from the other 65% of your million dollars as a stimulus. One man's “Tax Dodge” is another man's career.