Do as I say, not as I do....revisited

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Kerry On Yacht-Taxes Issue: 'Nothing More To Say'
Kerry Docks New Yacht In RI, Saves Taxes
(7/24/2010)

Senator John Kerry found himself answering questions Monday about his new $7 million yacht and the controversy about where he's docking it.

"There's nothing more to say about it," he told reporters at an event at the former South Weymouth Naval Air Station Monday.

The "Isabel" is docked in Rhode Island rather than at Kerry's summer home on Nantucket or in Boston Harbor. That means he avoids paying nearly $500,000 in taxes to Massachusetts and he doesn't have to pay a $70,000-a-year excise tax.

Rhode Island repealed those taxes in 1993. That has made the state something of a nautical tax haven.

'NOT AN ISSUE'
"Let's get this very straight, I've said consistently we will pay our taxes, we have always paid our taxes. It's not an issue period," he said.

Last week, when the Boston Herald broke the story, Kerry's office released a statement saying, "The boat was designed by and purchased from a company in Rhode Island, and it's based in Newport at the Newport Shipyard for long term maintenance, upkeep and charter purposes, not tax reasons."

"It's being worked on," Kerry said on Monday. "It's under warranty down there. It's being worked on and it will come to Massachusetts and I look forward to that."

Kerry's aide told WBZ Monday night that the senator will pay whatever taxes he owes on the Isabelle. She says the Department of Revenue will determine how much he owes.

KERRY'S EXIT
When asked "Did you berth the boat in Massachusetts?" he replied, "That depends on who owns it."

Then, he said to his driver, "Can I get out of here please?"

Kerry spokesperson David Wade said the vessel was designed by Rhode Island boat designer Ted Fontaine and purchased in the Ocean State. It was built in New Zealand by Friendship Yachts.

THE SALES TAX QUESTION
The Nantucket Boat Basin confirmed to WBZ on Monday that the Isabel has been docked at the marina "numerous" times this summer.

A spokesperson with the Department of Revenue who did not want to comment specifically on Kerry's case said ownership by an out-of-state corporation wouldn't matter. And, the law states if you bring the purchased property into the state within six months of buying it, you would be subject to the sales tax.

Coast Guard registration records show the vessel is owned by Great Point LLC, a limited liability corporation based in Pittsburgh, Heinz's longtime home.

ABOUT 'ISABEL'
The 76-foot sloop has two cabins, a pilot house fitted with a wet bar and cold wine storage, according to the Herald.

It derives its moniker from the middle name of Kerry's mother and the name his wife, Teresa Heinz, planned to give a daughter.

Instead, she had three sons.


Actions indeed, speak louder than "The rich don't pay their fair share"

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uh oh.  shhhhhhhhh

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While Obama preaches sacrifice, his family frolics in Spain
PETER NICHOLAS AND KATHERINE SKIBA, WASHINGTON
August 8, 2010

AS THE US economy endures high unemployment and a jittery stock market, President Barack Obama has preached sacrifice and fiscal discipline. But the pictures coming out of a sun-splashed Spanish resort may be sending a different message.

First lady Michelle Obama is in the midst of a five-day trip to a luxury resort along with a handful of friends, her younger daughter, aides and Secret Service. Her office said the Obamas would pay for personal expenses, but would not reveal the taxpayer cost for the government employees.

Elected officials - Democrats and Republicans - were reluctant to weigh in, not wanting to appear critical of the President's wife. But the trip provided fodder for television news shows, talk-show hosts and bloggers. Critics portrayed the foreign getaway as tone-deaf to the deep economic anxiety back home. Every first family takes vacations: the criticism aimed at Mrs Obama is that she chose to visit a foreign country rather than remain in the US and support its fragile economy.

Just last month, Mrs Obama flew to the Florida panhandle, a tourist draw hit hard by the oil spill crisis, and delivered the message that for parents ''looking for things to do with their kids this summer ? this is a wonderful place to visit''.

The opulence of the European trip also has drawn scrutiny. Mr Obama has urged frugality in lean economic times. He once cautioned that families saving money for college shouldn't ''blow a bunch of cash in Vegas''.

Mrs Obama is staying at the Hotel Villa Padierna, a Ritz-Carlton resort outside Marbella. It has two golf courses, a spa with Turkish baths, views of the Mediterranean and a restaurant specialising in avant-garde fare. Room rates start at $400 ($A436.73) and rise to $6500 for a two-bedroom villa.

Mrs Obama flew in on a type of aircraft used by Vice-President Joe Biden. It costs the government $11,555 an hour to operate the plane, according to the air force. Assuming a nearly eight-hour flight to nearby Malaga, the total round-trip cost of the flight is about $178,000.

AP

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John Kerry's bucks stops...........where?
By Gayle Fee and Laura Raposa
Friday, November 5, 2010

It's been more than three months since we first told you about Capt. John Kerry's high-seas tax dodge on his new $7 million yacht, Isabel, and the town of Nantucket still doesn't have a check from the senior senator!

You may recall that Kerry lowered the flag and surrendered in July, agreeing to pony up more than $400,000 to cover state taxes on the toney tub. Mr. Teresa Heinz broke out the checkbook four days after the Track set off a furious tempest with our report that he had purchased the 76-foot floating palace and ported her in Rhode Island, thus depriving the commonwealth of its pound of flesh.

A spokesman for the state Department of Revenue confirmed that "a sales tax return was filed" by Kerry last summer to cover state taxes that would have been owed, had he kept the Isabel in his home state's waters. But according to the Nantucket tax collector, he never paid any excise taxes to the town on the Isabel.

Now, in case you forgot, Kerry's yacht is a 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. We point this out because the excise tax on boats is $10 per thousand of valuation. However, the state caps the assessment on yachts over 60 feet that are less than four years old at $50,000. Which, if you ask us, seems rather foolish . . .

So, the $7 million Isabel, for excise tax purposes, is worth just $50G, meaning, should Kerry decide to pony up, he'd owe just $500 to the island's tax coffers. Chump change for Jawn and Ta-ray-za!

Anyway, Kerry's flack Jodi Seth told us the senator hasn't paid because he hasn't received a bill. Which is very different from what Kerry said last summer. Back then the story was that the senator would pay all the taxes as if the boat were berthed in Massachusetts.

"Whether owed or not, we intend to pay the equivalent taxes as if the boat?s home port were currently in Massachusetts," Kerry said at the time. "That payment is being made promptly."

Apparently not.

Then Seth got back to us to say that the yacht "is in the process of being reberthed" in Massachusetts.

"Once the process is complete, we will presumably be billed and we will promptly pay whatever is owed in annual excise taxes," she said.

Is that like "the check's in the mail"?