Robbery by cop

sato's picture

Man Has Life Savings Stolen By 'Civil Asset Forfeiture'

More money was stolen by authorities last year than was stolen by criminals...

it's pretty amazing this hasn't been ruled illegal by the court, since it skips the entire judicial process.

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danmanjones's picture

I think you're supposed to declare large sums of cash going through customs so what he did was kinda risky.

 

Yesterday I received a letter from my bank. It said something like:

Hey, we know paying taxes is a pain so we've done it for you. $104 has been taken from your account and paid to cover yur Kiwisaver tax

 

Now, not only is this absolutely fucked that they can take money out of my bank without my consent or even forewarning.... Kiwisaver is a superanuation scheme here, similar to a 401K but with some government assistance along the way. It's a tax for saving money, taken from me without approval! It's not the first time they'e pulled this kind of shit. They do it for traffic fines & stuff - that I can kinda understand because it's practical to save chasing people down for years.

 

I wish crypto would stabalize & get adopted, even if the whole system comes tumbling down it'd be worth it to simply have a usable currency with no central authority with sticky fingers.

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sato's picture

yeah i thought it strange that they didn't mention whether he declared it or not, though that doesn't mean he didn't declare it. come to think of it are you sure you have to declare outgoing cash? i remember it being on incoming passenger forms only.

 

that's dodgy that they're taking money from your superannuation account, as retirement savings are not taxable. on the contrary if you put money into your superannuation account, you can deduct that sum from your taxable income. i guess laws in nz might be a little different, so you might have to prove you already paid tax on that income you earned before you put it into the super account. at the very least anyway you will be able to claim that $104 back on your tax return at the end of the year.

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danmanjones's picture

The limit in US is $10k.

They bank took it straight out of my personal account & gave it to the government without my consent. It's larceny. Just trying to save up my anger until I go in there to close the account :p

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paddle21's picture

This civil aaset forfeiture isnt limited at the border. I know of 2 personal cases near dallas where cops can pull you over and take any cash and your car just because they thought they smelled some weed. If you cant prove the origin of that cash, they dont even have to charge you with a crime. The onus is on you to prove the money/property is legitimate.

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