A Taxing Situation - Sorry includes a Rant

I sit at the cafe sipping my large flat white as I read Greenspan's new book. It is Monday here, Super Sunday back in The World.

I am soaked - road my bike into town in the pouring rain - and my ass and backpack are covered with wet sand thrown up by the bike's tires.

An Australian Youth Volunteer stops by. The Australian (Lars) is dry and clean. How the heck can this be?

"We have a car." he replies. Remember - all of the other aid groups trust their volunteers/employees and give them the ability to drive.

We discuss our weekends as he pays for his coffees. (Several coffees- a group of volunteers is sharing the car.) I relate that I worked for several days doing my US taxes. Most of the volunteers here have never made enough money to get into complex taxes so he marvels that it can take days to complete.

I have been attending meetings here to study Tonga's new tax laws that take effect February 1. We have new income tax rules (low rates - up to 20% - TOP$7500 excluded. No AMT.) Local businesses are struggling to understand the concepts, but in general the rules are good. We also have a completely new set of customs rates and regulations - again the rates are OK (still high) but the big plus is they are structured to help reduce corruption. Reducing corruption is critical here.

At the meeting I asked the question on everyone's mind. "Should we buy beer before or after the new tariffs on alcohol take effect?" The expert claims the rules will be neutral. We'll see in the next few weeks if he is correct, I did not stock up.

I think back over the past few days, and the past few years. Many of you know that a large part of my decision to retire was based on the huge amount amount of taxes I was paying. In the end I decided that it was just plain stupid to work anymore. The government wanted me to retire.

Well now I am a poor leach on society and it feels great. I can deduct property tax! I can deduct charitable contributions! I can get a personal deduction for myself and my daughter! (None of these apply to the evil capitalist pig-dog successful businessman in the US). And to top it all off - as a Peace Corps Volunteer I am being paid by the US Taxpayer!

Not only that, they are raining money on me! I can use the HOPE eduction credit (I actually only use some - I can't generate enough liability to use it all.) Capital gains - ignore them - I have carryforward losses. I have a huge AMT carryforward credit (again, I don't use a penny of it, no need.) It is ridiculous. I fully expect not to pay a penny in federal income tax for the foreseeable future. Isn't it wonderful to no longer contribute to the economy?

With all this practice filling out forms I am ready for the Peace Corps Trimester Report. A megabyte of Excel document with 14 tabs devoted to collecting the massive impact that Peace Corps Volunteers are having on Tongan Society. Too bad Intuit hasn't come up with an online product to help fill out this sucker!