dubStrom
Veteran Member
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2007
- Location
- Kansas City Missouri
- TDI
- 2003 A4 Jetta (sold), 2010 JSW (sold), 2013 Passat 6MT traded for 2014 JSW with 6MT-TOTALED in November 2016, 2003 ALH 5MT conversion (sold), wheezing 2015 GSW/DSG and a new 2021 Tacoma Access Cab 4x4 p'up
Government offices just go by the law. I have never had any problems because I just comply. No big deal. Never beenWell that certainly works out in your favor. What about the other 49 states?
The post you quoted wasn't aimed at arguing with you and neither is this one. It was a statement aimed at the people who believe everything they read on the internet. There are a large number of lurkers following the Dieselgate forum here, far more than the number of posters in this thread.
People consistently make poor decisions because they aren't aware of or haven't fully considered the potential consequences of their actions (how else do you explain why people still start smoking?). I guarantee someone has read this thread or others and thought "I can save $2000 in taxes" without considering the costs if they're wrong.
Let's assume that you have a friendly and purely benevolent government. All they want is the correct tax payment based on the laws created by your elected representatives. No fees, interest, penalties, court costs, lawyers, etc. How many Americans can come up with that kind of money on short notice? A distressingly small number. Now let's come back to the real world. When was the last time you heard about a governmental entity being friendly and benevolent toward someone who owed tax money? Do you value the time you'll spend dealing with this? Does the stress not "cost" you anything?
* These are all rhetorical questions. "You" is the "general you" and not "dubStrom." If I were living in Missouri and planned to buy a car after the buyback, you can bet I'd take advantage of that. There's nothing wrong with legally minimizing your tax burden.
audited, and I do my own taxes. Both State and Federal taxes. I read the instructions, and I fill out the forms, and I pay the taxes. No big deal.
I've always been treated with remarkable fairness and kindness at motor vehicle. Of couse, one after another, the
people in line before me do not have their proof of paying property taxes for the last two years, or don't have a bill of sale, or whatnot. They go away, and it puts me at the counter sooner.
It is easy to comply, and it is cheap. The fees are cheap compared to the cost of keeping the traffic lights on and the fire trucks ready. What costs more is paying the salaries of the fire department, and the motor vehicle department. They don't get paid that well, but human beings are expensive!
I really don't know what part of government might be your bad experience. Don't forget, that you have firends that work for some part of government. One part that is particularly valuable is the city planners office, which provides enforcement of codes that help you when you buy a house. True, you can't prevent some folks from building crap and selling it when there is corruption, but at least there are standards. Not perfect, but best practices are useful when enforced. So some engineers at Volkswagen lied. Now the entire company is paying through the nose, court ordered.
In fact, the settlement pays buyback amounts way above what people could have gotten on the open market. I already gained $1000, and stand to gain another ~$6000-7000 in the restitution if I keep it. Wow. This is court ordered, and enforced by law.
Pretty cool if you ask me.
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