| Submit your comments on this article | |
| International | |
| UN mulls role of global taxman | |
| 2003-10-30 | |
| RANTBURG eat your heart out. For those who worry the United Nations doesn’t already deal with enough red tape, the UN General Assembly began discussing a proposal to set up an international tax organisation. Enough to chill the hearts of shady criminals and opponents of bureaucracy alike, the proposal was first spelled out by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in a report earlier this year. He recommended that an existing 25-person committee be expanded and upgraded to an "intergovernmental body" -- in other words, an international group along the lines of other UN agencies like UNICEF and UNESCO. The assembly began considering the proposal as part of a two-day "high-level dialogue" on how to finance international development that will feature officials from the World Bank and other key trade and financial institutions. "This is not something that would write tax codes or set global taxes," Timothy Wall, a UN information officer, told AFP.
Woohoo- Tax the rich countries, give to the poor dictatorships. A truly utopian, socialist World. | |
| Posted by:rg117 |
| #14 AP--don't EVEN get me started about the Diplo plates when I lived in NYC taking all the scarce/expensive parking spaces--not to mention a few citizens killed--one on Park Ave doing 80 mph |
| Posted by: NotMikeMoore 2003-10-30 11:12:37 PM |
| #13 Like the Bishop of Kirkuk said, the UN is dead. We need to tell Kofi, preferably while he's on top of the building, waiting for a helicopter to land. The "no taxation without representation" wasn't just that we didn't have representatives in Parlaiment, but that we had no say in how the money raised was being spent. We're on the verge of a tax revolt in this nation as it is. Something like this could be the final straw to push a large percentage of the population over the edge. Between this crap and "Internet taxes", the American people are about to be confronted with a horrendous soaking, as our government tries to get our tax level up there equivalent with those of Europe. We don't need those ruinous taxes, we don't want those taxes, and we won't stand for those taxes. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2003-10-30 9:36:58 PM |
| #12 "But there are a lot of sloppy, messy tax issues out there." Wall said the proposed organisation would act as a forum to help countries spell out their own standards and principles so that they could better coordinate tax policies. One issue, for example, would be corporations who "play countries off against each other" to get the best tax rates when deciding where to build new factories — a matter he said was crucial for developing nations. Oh yeah, sounds innocuous enough. Anyone want to bet that as time goes on, this little organization would morph into something more insidious? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2003-10-30 9:29:41 PM |
| #11 on the money AP, thks |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-10-30 9:29:39 PM |
| #10 I think what Frank G means is that we will always be outvoted in the UN General Assembly, even though we pay at least 25% of the UN budget, and ALL of the diplo's parking tickets, so to speak. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-10-30 8:58:02 PM |
| #9 Okay, call the clans. That's clans NMM. Not Klan (D) |
| Posted by: Shipman 2003-10-30 8:49:11 PM |
| #8 I agree this is total crap, but I'm not sure I understand Frank G's comment about us not being represented in the General Assembly. The US has a UN Ambassador that represents us in the General Assembly. |
| Posted by: Yank 2003-10-30 8:07:53 PM |
| #7 Everyone should verify where their representatives stand on this issue. Bring this idea to the floor of Congress and there will be a national hissy fit that will make the California recall look tame. We're talking tar and feathers. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2003-10-30 8:02:57 PM |
| #6 Kofi sees that things are not going good for the UN in the international security business, so he is branching out, looking for |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2003-10-30 7:52:08 PM |
| #5 remember the phrase: "No taxation without representation"? We do...and we aren't represented in the General Assembly. I'd like to see this become a question to GWB and the Dem candidates in the coming election |
| Posted by: Frank G 2003-10-30 7:38:45 PM |
| #4 As if we needed further proof the UN is in-fucking-sane.... |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2003-10-30 6:25:30 PM |
| #3 Like many UN initiatives, this is a solution looking for a problem. Welfare states get to reduce tax competition with non-welfare states. Thanks but no thanks. Can you see China agreeing with this one? I don't. This is something only the EU could love - I suspect developing countries will stay far, far away from this, given their use of tax incentives to lure foreign investment. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2003-10-30 6:02:38 PM |
| #2 Wow, who should I make my first 'tax' check out to? Mr. I.P. Freely? The day the U.N. taxes me is the day I start fighting. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge (VRWC CA Chapter) 2003-10-30 5:58:55 PM |
| #1 Don't expect any refunds, folks. It's not the UN way. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2003-10-30 5:50:40 PM |