frissell@panix.com (Duncan Frissell) <199407201118.AA03940@panix.com>writes:
unemployed," you can move easily and your assets can be fairly easily converted to cash. You might lose on your real property (depending on when you bought) but that has always been the downside of property.
This is a problem. The capital gains / alternative minimum tax hit is gruesome.
I know you like the Bay Area (as do I) but the net is there in Switzerland and the interface improves from year to year. If you want to do things strictly legally, expatriate, secure a second citizenship, renounce your US citizenship, wait ten years, and you'll be able to visit the US for up to 180 days a year. You could take this step given your situation but I know it can be a big one. Consider though if your US citizenship is worth so many $thousands/year plus a hefty chunk if you die (extropians isn't the same without you).
I agree of the inheritance tax question, but there is still a problem. The only stock markets that I know well enough to be comfortable investing in are in the US. That will not magically change just because I get citizenship somewhere else, and that still leaves me liable for US tracking and taxes.
When the IRS knocked on the gate of Heinlein's place at 5000 Bonny Doone Road (or was that 26000?) above Santa Cruz, he told them to get lost and write to his attorney.
The forfeiture laws were weaker then.
It is possible to reprogram yourself to disobedience. I am not particularly a "tough guy." On a day-to-day basis I'm reasonably chicken. But their culture of oppression infuriates me more than anything. I can use that fury to turn down the job of self-jailer that they offer to each of us.
That's not really it. I have no moral problems with tax evasion, just pragmatic ones.
We are still in the Rev 0.99a Alpha testing stage. The interface is a bit rough and since it's a Windows app we do have "General Protection Fault" problems. When you're out on the "bleeding edge" of technology, you sometimes bleed.
I respect your efforts in this area, and don't want to give the impression that I do not take your advice seriously. However, it is too bleeding edge for someone with a family, IMHO.