Warragamba Dam provides about 80 per cent of Sydney’s drinking water. The government has just confirmed traces of “forever chemicals” inside.
Where Is The Wall Of Separation Between Direct And Indirect Taxes?
Crime And The EITC
Aaron Willcox lost his entire $100,000 super to a hacker
Underworld widow Roberta Williams declared bankrupt
Forger linked to 11 mln euros of fake notes arrested in Italy, Europol says
FREEDOM WORKS: The Second Largest Economy in the World Is Sick, and the Communists Can’t Figure Out How to Cure It.
China initiated a massive stimulus effort starting in March looking to jumpstart the economy. But the effect has been uneven and in some ways hardly made a ripple.
Desmond Lachman, a senior fellow at AEI, believes that China is on the precipice.
“Unless the Chinese government introduces major structural economic reforms that encourage domestic consumer spending, China could experience a Japanese-style lost economic decade. That could have major consequences for the world economic outlook,” he said.
“Get the hell out of my way!” the wise man once said
Western Media Finally Begin Warning About the Dark Side of Digital Identity… in China
The volume of critical coverage of China’s proposed digital ID system in Western media stands in stark contrast to the near-total absence of coverage, critical or otherwise, of digital ID systems being developed by Western governments.
The volume of critical coverage of China’s proposed digital ID system in Western media stands in stark contrast to the near-total absence of coverage, critical or otherwise, of digital ID systems being developed by Western governments.
Michael and Sally Goyne plead guilty to tax evasion spanning five years: Dandenong Court
A failing tradie and his pregnant wife have been busted trying to swindle tax payers out of $100,000, just a decade after he was convicted for the same crime.
Married couple Michael Goyne, 52, and Sally Goyne, 49, pleaded guilty in Dandenong Magistrates Court on Thursday to tax evasion charges, just 12 years after Michael was convicted for the same crime.The Australian Taxation Office contacted Michael numerous times after he failed to file a tax and GST statement for five years between 2018 and 2023. The court heard he owed a total of $95,270 in backdated tax after working as a self-employed bathroom renovator, while school admin manager Salley owed a further $5370. The Goynes’ lawyer Roland Muller told the court Sally had “trusted Michael” to take care of their tax returns, as she had become unexpectedly pregnant while simultaneously caring for both her parents who were suffering from cancer.“He didn’t prioritise his tax obligations and she didn’t do an effective job of following up,” Mr Muller said. “There was always something else to do.”
Mr Muller said the family’s situation combined with a failing business led to Michael feeling “overwhelmed”. “My client feels a great deal of shame that he’s let his wife and their partnership down,” he said.Mr Muller argued the pair had been under “significant pressure” due to the surprise pregnancy alongside the cancer diagnoses of Sally’s parents.The prosecution countered while the Goynes’ family circumstances were not trivial, they “shouldn’t be given weight”, as Michael had already been convicted and fined in 2006 for the same crime.The court heard Michael had paid back his recent debt in full, but only started doing so after court proceedings began in mid-2023. This was despite the tax office’s numerous attempts to contact him. Magistrate Hugh Radford accepted the Goynes’ showed “genuine remorse”. “The sins you committed have now been attended to,” he said. “Sometimes life does become overwhelming, but this is serious, significant offending.”Mr Radford considered the context between Michael and Sally, saying the offending was not “intentionally malicious or sinister”.Michael was fined $10,000 with conviction, while Sally was put on a six month good behaviour bond with a $500 recognisance cost.
Sentencing Guidelines under the Loper Bright Non-Deference Regime
Three leading authorities on federal sentencing have co-authored an article that might be of interest to those interested in the confluence of federal sentencing and the demise of deference in Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo, 603 U. S. ____ (2024), SC Slip Op. here & GS here. The article is Mark Allenbaugh, Doug Passon, and Alan Ellis, Post-Chevron, Good Riddance To The Sentencing Guidelines (Law 360 7/15/24), here. I learned from the article and made appropriate changes to the federal crimes section of the 2025 working draft of my Federal Tax Procedure book.
