In the future, all dictionary publishers should get rid of their existing definitions for “hypocrisy” and replace them with a photo of Massachusetts Senator John Kerry. He’s just been caught committing the horrible sin of saving his family more than $500,000 by domiciling his new yacht in Rhode Island (which is a tax haven for such luxuries) rather than his home state. Or at least Senator Kerry says that tax planning is a horrible sin with conducted by “Benedict Arnold” companies and facilitated by those wicked tax havens. But I guess that it’s not such a bad thing when Senator Kerry is protecting his wealth. For the rest of us peasants, it’s our job to meekly get in line and submit to whatever taxes Senator Kerry graciously decides to impose.
Sen. John Kerry, who has repeatedly voted to raise taxes while in Congress, dodged a whopping six-figure state tax bill on his new multimillion-dollar yacht by mooring her in Newport, R.I. Isabel – Kerry’s luxe, 76-foot New Zealand-built Friendship sloop with an Edwardian-style, glossy varnished teak interior, two VIP main cabins and a pilothouse fitted with a wet bar and cold wine storage – was designed by Rhode Island boat designer Ted Fontaine. But instead of berthing the vessel in Nantucket, where the senator summers with the missus, Teresa Heinz, Isabel’s hailing port is listed as “Newport” on her stern. Could the reason be that the Ocean State repealed its Boat Sales and Use Tax back in 1993, making the tiny state to the south a haven – like the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Nassau – for tax-skirting luxury yacht owners? Cash-strapped Massachusetts still collects a 6.25 percent sales tax and an annual excise tax on yachts. Sources say Isabel sold for something in the neighborhood of $7 million, meaning Kerry saved approximately $437,500 in sales tax and an annual excise tax of about $70,000. …state Department of Revenue spokesguy Bob Bliss confirmed the senator “is under no obligation to pay the commonwealth sales tax.”
[…] P.P.S. You won’t be surprised to learn that pro-tax former Senator John Kerry avoided taxes on his yacht. […]
[…] P.P.S. You won’t be surprised to learn that pro-tax former Senator John Kerry avoided taxes on his yacht. […]
[…] P.P.S. You won’t be surprised to learn that pro-tax former Senator John Kerry avoided taxes on his yacht. […]
[…] did he protect much of his fortune in so-called tax havens, he even went through the trouble of domiciling his yacht outside of his home state to minimize his tax burden.I didn’t object to Kerry’s tax avoidance, but I was irked […]
[…] did he protect much of his fortune in so-called tax havens, he even went through the trouble of domiciling his yacht outside of his home state to minimize his tax […]
[…] Kerry uses tax havens to protect his wealth, and even keeps a yacht in a neighboring low-tax state, at least he’s consistent in his […]
[…] since Kerry uses tax havens to protect his wealth, and even keeps a yacht in a neighboring low-tax state, at least he’s consistent in his […]
[…] P.P.P.S. I can’t resist returning to John Kerry. It’s not merely that he’s a staggeringly rich guy who nonetheless sees no problem with diverting money from taxpayers to his daughter. It’s also that he does everything possible to minimize the amount of tax that he pays. Everything possible. […]
[…] John Kerry, when he was a Senator from Massachusetts, domiciled his new yacht in Rhode Island, rather than his home state. By avoiding Massachusetts taxes Kerry saved himself over $500,000. […]
[…] he even moored his yacht in Rhode Island to dodge several hundred thousand dollars of tax that otherwise would have been owed to the state of […]
[…] do you, like John Kerry or Bill and Hillary Clinton, take prudent steps to minimize the amount of your income confiscated […]
[…] do you, like John Kerry or Bill and Hillary Clinton, take prudent steps to minimize the amount of your income confiscated […]
[…] do you, like John Kerry or Bill and Hillary Clinton, take prudent steps to minimize the amount of your income confiscated […]
[…] else, but use neighboring states to protect themselves from oppressive taxation. John Kerry is a prime example, as are run-of-the-mill hacks from the state […]
[…] if I found out he’s some sort of statist who wants higher taxes for everybody else, but then (like John Kerry) takes steps to minimize his personal tax […]
[…] if I found out he’s some sort of statist who wants higher taxes for everybody else, but then (like John Kerry) takes steps to minimize his personal tax […]
[…] a general rule, I think politicians are contemptible, self-serving, corrupt, and hypocritical. But that doesn’t mean they’re stupid and/or deliberately destructive. […]
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I live in Allegheny County Pennsylvania. If I purchase a car outside of allegheny county, I still have to pay an extra one percent on the cost to my home county. John Kerry is a rich guy that can buy an accountant to get him tax brakes. Little regular people have to pay tax, like it or not.
Hey Mr Kerry, You’ll NEVER measure up to the man that John
Heinz was, never in one million years boy.
Rhode Island designed and New Zealand built.
What about all kerry’s labor union pals in the US? He stiffed them, too.