The Spoils Of Empire Are Not Tax-Deductible

The phrasing is a wee misleading.   The settlement's neither on behalf of nor against the Ottoman Empire.  The culprit is the insurance company New York Life, but its legal and press teams thought it best to name the settlement after the Ottomans.  New York Life merely refused to disburse life-insurance payments to the families of the 2,400 NYL policy-holders killed in the Armenian Genocide. 

Who would want to claim "New York Life Insists It Need Not Honor Policies Purchased By The Victims Of Genocide Settlement Payments" when they could appear imperial?  Certainly not this California tax-payer.

Comments

[Rich Puchalsky]

Hah. *My* state has a link to how-to-file instructions for same-sex married people.

[JPool]

The historical background at the end of that article is confusing, because the article itself never makes explicit the nature of the charges against Met Life or the relation if any of the Turkish denial.

I'm glad that they make it clear that these categories of income are "not common." Each year I find myself asking, "We still don't have any income from a farm or railway pension, right?"

[prefer not to]

I protest that one does not make "income" at beverage container recycling centers. One reclaims a deposit of their, or someone else's money.

Scenarios for gaining "income" at bottle center:

1. Personal bottles and cans (just clap your hands, just clap your hands):

I buy a six pack of Coca-Cola at Piggly Wiggly. In addition to the 3.50 retail price of the soda and packaging I am buying, I am required to put down 35 cent deposit for the cans or bottles I am taking with me, which I can reclaim upon bringing the bottles or cans back to any recycling center. At that point I get my 35 cents back. In the meantime, Piggly Wiggly's bank account has been accruing interest using my 35 cents, mind you.

2. Collection of the discarded bottles and cans of others:

Other folks follow the above procedure, but they neglect to carry the containers to a recycling center. They toss their cans into the wastestream, forfeiting their deposit. I come along and collect the bottles and cans, carrying them back to the recycling center where I reclaim the deposit forfeited by another.

In either scenario, no one has worked for income! The 5 cents that I give for each bottle has already been taxed as part of my income, unless, of course someone out there buys their soda in a pre-tax deduction from the paycheck.

If anyone should be taxed, it is the grocer who accumulates interest on my deposit money, or they should have to turn the interest back to me, (or the state).

I can't believe that I sound like a liberatarian, but the idea that one would be taxed on the return of a deposit is insane!

[todd.]

This scenario is patently ridiculous. There are no Piggly Wigglies in California. You may as well have suggested that you leave your deposit at an HEB or a Winn-Dixie.