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Topic: 100% Bitcoin will be denied - page 2. (Read 5697 times)

sr. member
Activity: 403
Merit: 251
August 23, 2013, 11:30:46 AM
#55
A decentralized cryptocurrency becoming international standard will indeed be against the interest of the US and some other governments. They'll find some reasons to suppress it's adoption.

But if they do, it's even more against their interest. As long as Bitcoin is treated as some
weird foreign currency, governments can control all merchants and exchanges but if Bitcoin is only used
in black market/"System D" part of the world economy there will be no taxes at all, and no control.
Governments aren't rational, of course.

legendary
Activity: 1204
Merit: 1002
Gresham's Lawyer
August 23, 2013, 05:46:08 AM
#54
Quote
And you just expect everybody to do what the US government tells them?
Now you can buy pizza using btc, you can exchange btc to USD and etc.
If bitcoin is denied, the only way to use them is to pay to another person (not company, only person).
So bitcoin is going to be like cash now. Do you often use cash?
I use only cash (except for online purchase) but I might be abnormal. I withdraw like 500-1000$ from the ATM at a time so my spending habit stay private.
Consider:
You know the bills are serialized, yes?  Maybe you are getting them from a machine with a camera in it that can see/photograph you (and knows you from your card as well) and it may be possible for that machine to read the serial numbers too...
Maybe pseudo-private?  How many years that information is retained...

Bitcoin is also serialized in its own way though.

For the purely fungible money you won't find it in paper, but at least there is the pocket change, and the commodities.
legendary
Activity: 1078
Merit: 1003
August 23, 2013, 05:27:40 AM
#53

You're right Mike, although I'm not from US and I am not talking about US, but the same principle applies basically to every country.
You raised very good points about taxation, but I guess we're going well out of the topic. What I was trying to say is that if we want to go mainstream with Bitcoin, they should be taxed as any other currency, otherwise I believe the system cannot grow enough to replace established currencies.

Sorry to use the US specifically; I live here and it's the only place I know, so I can't speak for any other country.

This is why Bitcoin is so disruptive; we know we cannot continue our lives as we know it and just as well expect Bitcoin to succeed.  Either Bitcoin will need to change to accommodate government, or government will need to change to accommodate Bitcoin.  No technology is more disruptive than that which threatens a government's lifeline.  I have no doubt that Bitcoin will reach the masses, in time, and I have every expectation that there will be conflict.  But it seems, in the future, government is going to have a lot less power, the more Bitcoin spreads.  The complexities of the tax system we have today rely on a controlled currency; with Bitcoin, a flat tax seems to be the only method of taxation left; the age where we taxed money every time it moved is closing.
hero member
Activity: 593
Merit: 505
Wherever I may roam
August 23, 2013, 05:01:26 AM
#52
Yes, they must depend on what you earn.. How can you ask a citizen earning 10 to pay 5 and also ask another citizen who earns 5.5 to pay the same amount. What about a person unemployed? How can he pay 5? That's the principle of progressive taxation, the one earning 10 will pay more than the one earning 5, so that the unemployed can still receive some services even if he cannot pay taxes.

In other words, "In America, we punish success."  And then we wonder why there aren't any jobs...

A flat tax rate would force government to tax the poorest of people at a rate which they can still live reasonably well; this would decrease taxation by a huge amount, and force government to be smart about where they allocate tax money (such as what we pay them to do, like roads and bridges and a REASONABLE military to STOP INVASIONS, not big enough wage war against every other nation and blow the planet to smithereens.)

Instead, we throw more money at government, beg them to help us and to tax the rich to shit until they leave (and take their capital, and jobs, with them, to other nations), and cry that we can't support ourselves and need welfare as a staple of our lives, since we threw more of our money at government, and begged them to help us,...

You're right Mike, although I'm not from US and I am not talking about US, but the same principle applies basically to every country.
You raised very good points about taxation, but I guess we're going well out of the topic. What I was trying to say is that if we want to go mainstream with Bitcoin, they should be taxed as any other currency, otherwise I believe the system cannot grow enough to replace established currencies.
legendary
Activity: 1078
Merit: 1003
August 23, 2013, 04:47:37 AM
#51
Yes, they must depend on what you earn.. How can you ask a citizen earning 10 to pay 5 and also ask another citizen who earns 5.5 to pay the same amount. What about a person unemployed? How can he pay 5? That's the principle of progressive taxation, the one earning 10 will pay more than the one earning 5, so that the unemployed can still receive some services even if he cannot pay taxes.

In other words, "In America, we punish success."  And then we wonder why there aren't any jobs...

A flat tax rate would force government to tax the poorest of people at a rate which they can still live reasonably well; this would decrease taxation by a huge amount, and force government to be smart about where they allocate tax money (such as what we pay them to do, like roads and bridges and a REASONABLE military to STOP INVASIONS, not big enough wage war against every other nation and blow the planet to smithereens.)

Instead, we throw more money at government, beg them to help us and to tax the rich to shit until they leave (and take their capital, and jobs, with them, to other nations), and cry that we can't support ourselves and need welfare as a staple of our lives, since we threw more of our money at government, and begged them to help us,...
legendary
Activity: 3682
Merit: 1580
August 23, 2013, 04:44:18 AM
#50
I've always like the saying that (basically) BTC is all about the OTHER 6 billion people in the world

Those who think it's all about America have never traveled...  It'll be a while (5 - 10 years) but I hope we can eventually see BTC as a currency and STOP comparing it to dollars...

Actually it is you that looks like he hasn't travelled much. Or if he has he has done so in typical american fashion lecturing the natives about how they should live their lives and not listening one bit to what they have to say.

The US controls the world financial system. They can even make an oil rich country like Iran an outcast that can't legally sell its oil to the world because a) sanctions b) it is blocked from receiving payments via SWIFT which is the standard for international wire transfers. Iran has to resort to barter to sell its oil. Can you imagine barter for billions of dollars of oil? In this day and age?!!

The US can destroy bitcoin if it chooses to do so. But I don't think it wants to do that for a number of reasons:

1) Bitcoin will spur innovation in finance and that is good for the US economy.

2) Bitcoin transactions are all public so its a rich source of data for the government including the taxmen. It just needs some clever algorithms to mine that data.

So let's hope that I am right and the US isn't out to destroy bitcoin and just wants to regulate i.e. control it.
legendary
Activity: 1764
Merit: 1007
August 23, 2013, 04:33:14 AM
#49
They'll find a way to force everybody to use a validated wallet (except themself). Welcome to brave new world of total financial surveillance.


so I'm gonna use a non-validated wallet inside a VPN hosted offshore?
hero member
Activity: 593
Merit: 505
Wherever I may roam
August 23, 2013, 03:45:56 AM
#48
So, even in a perfect world where BTC is the only currency, don't you think there should be a way to let everyone pay their taxes? Then HOW, that's the tricky part! Directly - you pay depending on what you earn - this could be done by your employer OR indirectly -you pay when you consume - like VAT? Dunno... Smiley      

Why do taxes have to depend on what you earn? Why not just have a simple system where everybody owes the same amount of money every year, wouldn't that be more fair?

The how of paying taxes with bitcoins is really easy: the government sends each citizen a bitcoin payment address, they send the bitcoins owed to that address.

Yes, they must depend on what you earn.. How can you ask a citizen earning 10 to pay 5 and also ask another citizen who earns 5.5 to pay the same amount. What about a person unemployed? How can he pay 5? That's the principle of progressive taxation, the one earning 10 will pay more than the one earning 5, so that the unemployed can still receive some services even if he cannot pay taxes.
hero member
Activity: 756
Merit: 500
It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye
August 23, 2013, 02:37:36 AM
#47
So, even in a perfect world where BTC is the only currency, don't you think there should be a way to let everyone pay their taxes? Then HOW, that's the tricky part! Directly - you pay depending on what you earn - this could be done by your employer OR indirectly -you pay when you consume - like VAT? Dunno... Smiley      

Why do taxes have to depend on what you earn? Why not just have a simple system where everybody owes the same amount of money every year, wouldn't that be more fair?

The how of paying taxes with bitcoins is really easy: the government sends each citizen a bitcoin payment address, they send the bitcoins owed to that address.
hero member
Activity: 593
Merit: 505
Wherever I may roam
August 23, 2013, 02:32:43 AM
#46
Ok, still you have not replied to my question! I don't understand the assumption taxes=evil ...

It's quite simple. Who do you trust to spend the money in your pocket better, you or the government?

Governments are inefficient. The bigger they are the more inefficient they are. I'll list three quick examples from the top of my head. The DMV. Do you think the DMV could be run more efficiently by government or private companies? I'm not saying private companies should do it, I'm asking about efficiency.

How about FEMA... For Hurricane Katrina FEMA eventually decided to melt thousands of pounds of ice stored at a cost of $12.5 million after trucking it thousands of miles south then back north finding that much wasn't needed.

What about the VA? I'm not a veteran but I've heard terrible things about the service there. Wouldn't more be expected of a First World country that holds the world's reserve currency and a multi-trillion dollar economy?

Another example is the government paying $16 per muffin for conferences.

Last, Detroit has some of the highest property taxes in the country. How are they doing? I could go on and on.

This is what happens when costs are not tied to actual market values and the natural regulators of free market forces. If people are free to pay only for what they deem valuable then those items will be up to scratch or not exist at all.


You're right and I cannot agree with you more, I'm not from the US but I'm pretty sure you're right and I can tell you that in my country it is exactly the same, like probably everywhere else..BUT..the fact that our taxes are often misused and sometimes our money is literally thrown away by idiots doesn't make taxes evil..
It's like if you live, like I do, in a condominium with your lovely neighbors, and you pay a fee every month for the elevator, cleaning of the common parts, electricity, repairing of broken stuff, etc. Now you have an administrator who collects the money and manages it . Now you can often have an idiot as administrator who maybe buys stupid things for the condo or maybe steals some money. The good thing in a condo is that, being a small environment, you can easily detect his misbehavior and kick him out. But you wouldn't say "I hope I had bitcoins so I can avoid paying my monthly fee, because you will be against all your neighbors.
A State is much bigger and the problem is that you cannot easily kick our politicians out but this doesn't mean that collecting taxes for the common good is bad. Have a look at the scandinavian countries where their taxes are sooooo huge, they don't usually complain because their money is used very efficiently and they receive in return great services..
So, even in a perfect world where BTC is the only currency, don't you think there should be a way to let everyone pay their taxes? Then HOW, that's the tricky part! Directly - you pay depending on what you earn - this could be done by your employer OR indirectly -you pay when you consume - like VAT? Dunno... Smiley     
legendary
Activity: 1135
Merit: 1166
August 23, 2013, 01:44:05 AM
#45
Quote
And you just expect everybody to do what the US government tells them?
Now you can buy pizza using btc, you can exchange btc to USD and etc.
If bitcoin is denied, the only way to use them is to pay to another person (not company, only person).
So bitcoin is going to be like cash now. Do you often use cash?
I use only cash (except for online purchase) but I might be abnormal. I withdraw like 500-1000$ from the ATM at a time so my spending habit stay private.
I think that's a good attitude, I do the same.  Although it may be a bit more "normal" where I live than it is in the US, where credit cards seem to be far more abundant than here.
sr. member
Activity: 366
Merit: 258
August 23, 2013, 01:32:03 AM
#44
A decentralized cryptocurrency becoming international standard will indeed be against the interest of the US and some other governments. They'll find some reasons to suppress it's adoption.

That's one of the reasons why I'm pessimistic about the future of cryptocurrencies.

It's true, but the reasons for optimism are much greater than the pessimistic ones. The more they act towards Bitcoin users like they are towards whistleblowers right now ("drone them, cage them, trans-gender them"), then we know they're truly scared. The UK government said they arrested David Miranda under Anti-Terror legislation to "protect the public from terrorist threats", and they can use that form of very indirect causality logic to arrest, well, just about anyone doing anything. Arrest dogs for being potential suicide bomb mules, arrest restaurant waitresses for "providing a means of sustenance to a suspicious Sikh", arrest the parents of fracking protesters for "failing to prevent or report an act of terror". Take your pick.

These people are shit scared that the public will start scratching their heads en masse.

I'm also a fan of your dance moves, Carlton. 

I think greed and power are the stronger motivators here.  Governments are made of legislators and legislators want to "steer the ship".  If we can give them some illusion of control, bitcoin will get a huge boost.
sr. member
Activity: 392
Merit: 250
August 22, 2013, 09:06:26 PM
#43
Hey Carlton, remember when you and Will got pulled over for appearing identical to some car thieves, and the cops told you they pulled you over "because you were driving too slow", and then you played the race card?   I hate that episode, because I'm white and I was pulled over once for driving too slow.  They even did a drug search on my vehicle.  The cops were white.  I'm white.

This is the only Fresh Prince episode I didn't like, other than that, carlton, ILU MAN
legendary
Activity: 3430
Merit: 3080
August 22, 2013, 09:01:49 PM
#42
A decentralized cryptocurrency becoming international standard will indeed be against the interest of the US and some other governments. They'll find some reasons to suppress it's adoption.

That's one of the reasons why I'm pessimistic about the future of cryptocurrencies.

It's true, but the reasons for optimism are much greater than the pessimistic ones. The more they act towards Bitcoin users like they are towards whistleblowers right now ("drone them, cage them, trans-gender them"), then we know they're truly scared. The UK government said they arrested David Miranda under Anti-Terror legislation to "protect the public from terrorist threats", and they can use that form of very indirect causality logic to arrest, well, just about anyone doing anything. Arrest dogs for being potential suicide bomb mules, arrest restaurant waitresses for "providing a means of sustenance to a suspicious Sikh", arrest the parents of fracking protesters for "failing to prevent or report an act of terror". Take your pick.

These people are shit scared that the public will start scratching their heads en masse.
member
Activity: 62
Merit: 10
August 22, 2013, 08:27:15 PM
#41
A decentralized cryptocurrency becoming international standard will indeed be against the interest of the US and some other governments. They'll find some reasons to suppress it's adoption.

That's one of the reasons why I'm pessimistic about the future of cryptocurrencies.
hero member
Activity: 756
Merit: 500
It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye
August 22, 2013, 08:16:13 PM
#40
Have you ever wondered how taxes worked back before we had electronic currencies, back when everybody used cash? How could that possibly work? The answer is that taxes do not derive from people using USD, they are derived from people REPORTING their own tax liabilities. People can fill out tax forms for earnings in bitcoins just like the filled out tax forms for earnings in dollars.


Have you ever wondered how taxes worked back before we had people REPORTING their own tax "liabilities"?

The answer is that taxes were derived from people using USD, they were derived from sales taxes only. Direct taxation was CONSTITUTIONALLY FORBIDDEN. For IDEOLOGICAL REASONS. Lord give me strength.

Ah, but somebody has to tell the government what amount of sales there were, USD does not report that, the people had to do the reporting. You can report your sales in bitcoin just as easily as you can report your sales in USD (actually bitcoin is even better, since the record is open for everybody to see).
legendary
Activity: 3430
Merit: 3080
August 22, 2013, 08:01:20 PM
#39
Ok, still you have not replied to my question! I don't understand the assumption taxes=evil ...

It's quite simple. Who do you trust to spend the money in your pocket better, you or the government?

Governments are inefficient. The bigger they are the more inefficient they are. I'll list three quick examples from the top of my head. The DMV. Do you think the DMV could be run more efficiently by government or private companies? I'm not saying private companies should do it, I'm asking about efficiency.

How about FEMA... For Hurricane Katrina FEMA eventually decided to melt thousands of pounds of ice stored at a cost of $12.5 million after trucking it thousands of miles south then back north finding that much wasn't needed.

What about the VA? I'm not a veteran but I've heard terrible things about the service there. Wouldn't more be expected of a First World country that holds the world's reserve currency and a multi-trillion dollar economy?

Another example is the government paying $16 per muffin for conferences.

Last, Detroit has some of the highest property taxes in the country. How are they doing? I could go on and on.

This is what happens when costs are not tied to actual market values and the natural regulators of free market forces. If people are free to pay only for what they deem valuable then those items will be up to scratch or not exist at all.

Simpler version: audit the money. The taxes overwhelmingly get spent on maintaining the national debt. Government BORROWS the part that pays for the public services. They hide all of this skillfully when talking about it, but the overall numbers don't lie.
legendary
Activity: 3430
Merit: 3080
August 22, 2013, 07:56:21 PM
#38

Guys, I do not understand this thing and I keep on reading it here over and over again. So many people celebrating the fact that the State cannot tax bitcoins and shouting proudly "They cannot tax it, it's anonymous!!"

.. Let's imagine for a second that all the different currencies disappear and there is only BTC..

If a Government is not able to tax your earnings (which will be in BTC, remember, it's the only currency you have), how is anything going to work? Who's paying for any public service, for your roads, water, trash, schools, etc.?

If by any means anyone want BTC to succeed and become mainstream, it MUST be taxed as any other currency.
Which could be difficult or not, but that's another topic...

Have you ever wondered how taxes worked back before we had electronic currencies, back when everybody used cash? How could that possibly work? The answer is that taxes do not derive from people using USD, they are derived from people REPORTING their own tax liabilities. People can fill out tax forms for earnings in bitcoins just like the filled out tax forms for earnings in dollars.

Is trash a public service? Seems perfectly reasonable to expect people to pay a company to come take their trash away (at my previous residence I used this setup, my current residence has city-run trash pickup (but you can look at a city as just a company which provides services within a geographical region)).

Is water a public service? I pay the water company, they make water available to me, so no need for taxes.

Have you ever wondered how taxes worked back before we had people REPORTING their own tax "liabilities"?

The answer is that taxes were derived from people using USD, they were derived from sales taxes only. Direct taxation was CONSTITUTIONALLY FORBIDDEN. For IDEOLOGICAL REASONS. Lord give me strength.
legendary
Activity: 1050
Merit: 1002
August 22, 2013, 07:29:49 PM
#37
Ok, still you have not replied to my question! I don't understand the assumption taxes=evil ...

It's quite simple. Who do you trust to spend the money in your pocket better, you or the government?

Governments are inefficient. The bigger they are the more inefficient they are. I'll list three quick examples from the top of my head. The DMV. Do you think the DMV could be run more efficiently by government or private companies? I'm not saying private companies should do it, I'm asking about efficiency.

How about FEMA... For Hurricane Katrina FEMA eventually decided to melt thousands of pounds of ice stored at a cost of $12.5 million after trucking it thousands of miles south then back north finding that much wasn't needed.

What about the VA? I'm not a veteran but I've heard terrible things about the service there. Wouldn't more be expected of a First World country that holds the world's reserve currency and a multi-trillion dollar economy?

Another example is the government paying $16 per muffin for conferences.

Last, Detroit has some of the highest property taxes in the country. How are they doing? I could go on and on.

This is what happens when costs are not tied to actual market values and the natural regulators of free market forces. If people are free to pay only for what they deem valuable then those items will be up to scratch or not exist at all.
vip
Activity: 756
Merit: 503
August 22, 2013, 06:17:31 PM
#36
Quote
And you just expect everybody to do what the US government tells them?
Now you can buy pizza using btc, you can exchange btc to USD and etc.
If bitcoin is denied, the only way to use them is to pay to another person (not company, only person).
So bitcoin is going to be like cash now. Do you often use cash?
I use only cash (except for online purchase) but I might be abnormal. I withdraw like 500-1000$ from the ATM at a time so my spending habit stay private.
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