Zac Goldsmith

EiS,

I don't know how you would know me in real life since I am unable to reciprocate... I only pointed you out on this thread because you were so vehement.

However, the bedrock of US taxes is that you do what it takes to minimise your own taxes, such as making the decision to file a married/separately vs married/jointly. There is no obligation to make voluntary donations.

As a US taxpayer living abroad, I do what I can to get my tax return down to zero, and this is encouraged by the IRS.

I don't understand why certain British taxpayers benefit recipients expect other taxpayers to pay more than they have to. Personally, I give over 10% of my after tax income to my church, and I trust them to pass it on far more responsibly than the government.

Who is it expat?

Oh, and he's a liar and a cheat, in case you bury that point in whatever you can try to pull out of that post to bolster your argument that liars and cheats are the kind of people you'd happily elect to represent you and make decisions on how other people live.

Well, Mme, and I've now sussed out who you are IRL, there's minimising tax and there's dodging it.

A US national has to file tax returns on all income earned abroad. Even benefits. And, after the $82,000 threshold, either show they paid it to another government or stump up.

A US national may also need to file a state income tax return, depending on the last state in which he/she is domiciled and/or the length of time he/she has been away.

And, as you know, a US national has to do this or formally renounce his/her US citizenship, and then still complete returns for 10 years.

That's the difference between minimising and dodging it.

And yes, UK nationals who have lived abroad actually cannot just come back, rock up and get on the dole.

Their kids even have to pay international fees at university in most places.

Tehre's even a poster on here who faced that very situation upon a return from France.

Oh, and once, again, he's a liar and a cheat.

Bu ZG is a British citizen, not a foreign national.

I don't think this portrayal of non-doms is accurate.

It's a tax break for foreign nationals partially resident in the UK, not for UK citizens who happen to have a parent who was born abroad. It's a wizard wheeze for keeping your earnings off shore and of course it's financially advantageous. Otherwise people wouldn't do it wouldn't they?

So you would advocate different laws for PPCs and benefit claimant? That would mean that any disqualified from either group could not be part of the other!!! Benetfits claimants cannot stand for parlliament - shock horror!

Is there anything to say that ZG did not pay his UK taxes in full? As part of an internationally mobile family, he had some financial interests abroad set up by his father. But he has always been very much committed to the UK.

/tri-national, internationally mobile family worried that we are not allowed a point of view or place in democracy - and penalised by each countries' taxation system. Not at all seeing the benefits of 'non-dom'ness

Mme, I'm talking about standing for parliament, not claiming benefits! You shouldn't be allowed to make our laws until you have paid full UK tax on all your earnings just like everyone else for a set period.

well duh, smallwhitecat, it's wrong because he's not paying his fair share while deciding how much the rest of us are forced to fork out.

He kept his money abroad to avoid paying UK tax on it. Then pretends to be all new nice Tory-lite but gives the game away by his choice of braying toff pal on election night. That's what was so funny about the berk - not just that he was a berk, but that he showed Zak up for what he really is.

I felt physically sick watching him and his awful, Hooray Henry mates celebrating his victory.

These are not good people who work hard to serve others.

Edam, what if a British citizen who had been non-dom, returned to the UK and needed to claim benefits. Would they have to wait fivee years too?

Should returning expats have to wait five years before enrolling their children in state school?

Should returning expats be allowed NHS care?

It is definitely NOT on to escape paying UK taxes while seeking the right to decide how much everyone else has to pay.

Anyone who has been a non-dom should have to pay full UK tax on their earnings for a set period before they are allowed near parliament. Say five years.

Okay, I'll give you a quick summary of the salient points:

• He dropped his non-dom status after a load of adverse publicity (but crucially after he'd decided to stand
• He's a fairweather environmentalist. He has a house in the caribbean which he and his family regularly fly to. Most really committed environmentalists I know limit their air travel severely
• He and his brothers made donations to the tory party to the tune of £40k which both they and party admin sought to hide.

Not really a shining example and I don't think he deserves a seat tbh

Read a bit more now..

From what I know about ZG, his green credentials are highly respected both by 'emotional' greens and by scientists.

I am not impressed by his personal life which is a black mark.

I don't have a problem wiht his tax status. It is perfectly reasonable to do your best to minimise your taxes - ExpatinScotland, as an American citizen, would have been brought up with this ingrained in her character, so I am puzzled why she doesn't feel this way now.

I don't know why ZG is non-dom, but I remember his father being told to go back to his hacienda, so perhaps that has something to do with it.

One thing that struck me from election night was how overjoyed ZG was to be elected. The raw emotion was entirely genuine.

Haven't read much beyond the OP, but if he meets the requirements for standing as an MP, then he should be allowed to pay his £500 deposit and to stand.

If there are aspects of his character beyond that, such as having been a non-dom in the past, it is up to the elctorate to decide on the morality of this.

Imagine he was a British mother with young children and a foreign husband living abroad. The husband turned abusive and the mother fled to the UK with her children and nothing more than the clothes on her back. Who would whine 'non-dom' in this situation?

It's not all slurs though - some of the criticism has a lot of substance. You're not his brother in law's wife are you smallwhitecat?

'suck it up'?

'that this thread is full of class-based hatred, which is as unappealing as any other kind.'

Um, okay.

Yep. All that stuff about his being a liar and a cheater are all about class.

Whatever.

'Proof yet again that it's OK to display as much bigotry as you like, as long as it's towards those members of society generally perceived as privileged.'

Keep telling yourself that's what it's about. Haahaa. If you'd read the posts on here you'd see it's far from that.

But thankfully, I don't have to 'suck up' anything or him, either.

And you obviously don't have a clue what bigotry really is if you think you've seen it here.

I hope you don't ever find out, either, because if you think he's a 'victim' of that, you wouldn't last 5 minutes in the real face of it.

LOL.

merryberry
at least the hooray has added to the levity of the nation. Everywhere he goes, he gets a laugh, with a hairstyle like that.