Archive for September 26th, 2011

Geez, all the fuss over 7,000 rich guys…

September 26, 2011

Punch line: Chasing after a couple of thousand rich dudes seems like a wild goose chase to me.

I’m more concerned about the 50% of folks who don’t have any skin in the game … who pay no taxes and think other folks should pay more.

Old refrain: “Don’t tax you, don’t tax me, tax the guy behind the tree.”

Tax Policy Center analysis reported in The Atlantic …

76 million people won’t legally owe individual income taxes in 2011

The vast majority of this group is poor. They won’t owe individual income taxes because they won’t earn a lot of money to start, and various exemptions, like the earned income tax credit, will wipe out any tax liability … maybe even getting them a refundable credit – a check in the mail from the Feds.

Among families making more than $100,000, there will also be  half a million tax units that will also pay no income tax.

And, 7,000 millionaires will pay no individual income tax.

How can that be?

Couple of ways:

  • Tax-free income … think gov’t bonds
  • Catastrophic losses …  e.g. mansion gets wiped out by a hurricane, very high uninsured medical expenses
  • Discretionary deductions … think charitable deductions
  • Fraud and other shenanigans …

 

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Posted in Buffett, Warren, Taxes | 3 Comments »

Dot-com is so yesterday … now, dot-brand is what’s happening.

September 26, 2011

Punch line: You can register a dot-com domain name with GoDaddy for about 10 bucks.

For an additional $184,990, you’ll soon be able to register a “dot-brand” domain name like “.homa”.

Tempting, but I think I’ll wait until the price drops to $19.99

* * * * *
Excerpted from CnnMoney …

Trusty old Internet addresses we know and love — the .coms, .nets, .orgs — are about to get some new competition.

Way back in 2000, the organization decided to expand the domain-name system. Since then, it has gradually rolled out a handful of new domains, including the controversial .xxx domain that got the green light in March.

ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) – the Global Internet regulator – is finalizing rules for a major expansion of “generic top-level domains,” that will clear the way for new offerings like .law, .coke or .nyc. Sites with those endings are expected to start rolling out late next year.

Experts think dot-brand sites will be a hit with major companies.

“The decision will usher in a new Internet age … a platform for the next generation of creativity and inspiration.”

In addition to marketing benefits, they could help on the security front: HSBC, for example, could tell customers that a purported HSBC site isn’t legitimate unless it ends in .hsbc.

But these benefits don’t come cheaply — or easily. ICANN charges at $185,000 per domain application, which Crawford says typically must include about 150 pages of policy documents.

Technical setup takes another $100,000 or so, he says, and upkeep can cost an additional $100,000 each year.

ICANN is slated to begin reviewing applications in November or December, and says that new domains should roll out in July 2012.

Thanks to MET for feeding the lead.

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