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by Richard Parslow

Chief Minister Allan Bell MHK is leading a senior Isle of Man Government delegation to the Channel Islands this week for a series of high-level meetings.

Mr Bell is meeting the recently elected Chief Minister of Jersey, Senator Ian Gorst, and Guernseys new Chief Minister, Deputy Peter Harwood, along with the Deputy Chief Ministers and Treasury Ministers of both islands.

The discussions will provide an opportunity to consider a wide range of issues facing all three Crown Dependencies, including financial challenges, the drive for economic growth, and developments within the UK and Europe.

Mr Bell, who is being accompanied by Treasury Minister Eddie Teare MHK, Chief Secretary Will Greenhow and Director of External Relations Della Fletcher, flew into Guernsey today (Tuesday, May 29) and will travel onwards to Jersey this evening.

The visits continue the Isle of Man Governments programme of engagement with political and business leaders in neighbouring jurisdictions.

All three Crown Dependencies have new Chief Ministers. Mr Bell was elected to the post in the Isle of Man in October 2011, Senator Gorst was appointed Chief Minister of the States of Jersey in November last year, while Deputy Harwood became Chief Minister of the States of Guernsey earlier this month.

Mr Bell said: This is a new political era for the Crown Dependencies following the recent general elections in the Isle of Man, Jersey and Guernsey, and the appointments of new Chief Ministers in all three islands. This weeks visits will provide an opportunity for me to strike up a personal rapport with both Deputy Harwood and Senator Gorst, and deepen our understanding of each others priorities and aspirations.

He added: We are all experiencing similar challenges in terms of rebalancing our budgets and stimulating economic growth, and I am sure that our discussions around these common issues will be very positive and productive. I am also looking forward to building my relationships with Deputy Harwood and Senator Gorst in the future, in particular when we represent our countries at international forums such as the British-Irish Council Summits.

It will be interesting to gain a personal insight into the current political and economic situation in Jersey and Guernsey. Whilst the Isle of Man and Channel Islands are often rivals in terms of competing for new business, there are also opportunities for us to work together for our mutual benefit.

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Chief Minister to meet Channel Islands counterparts

28-05-2012 10:45 While Romney said his tax plan would not add to the deficit, he didn't offer specifics as to how he'd pay for his newly proposed tax cuts. Absent those offsets, the CRFB roughly estimates that his plan could add $2.6 trillion in debt, boosting debt to 96% of GDP by 2021. Ron Paul's plan Debt over next decade: Reduces it by $2.2 trillion, lowering debt to GDP to 76%. Costliest proposal: Get rid of various income taxes, such as the Alternative Minimum Tax and taxes on investment income, Social Security benefits and tips, at a cost of $2.5 trillion. Biggest cost saver: Reduce many parts of non-defense spending, such as eliminating five federal departments including education, commerce and energy, saving $4.5 trillion. Interest costs on the debt: Lowers it by $300 billion. FBI -- WARNING -- Federal law allows citizens to reproduce, distribute or exhibit portions of copyright motion pictures, video tapes, or video disks under certain circumstances without authorization of the copyright holder. This infringement of copyright is called fair use and is allowed for purposes of criticism, news reporting, teaching and parody.

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Ron Paul Real Plan VS Mitt Romney empty Promises - Video

29-05-2012 13:58 Maria Sheffield, mariasheffield.com, is a Reagan conservative. Maria Sheffield supports small businesses and opposes job killing regulations from President Obama and Congressman John Barrow - Join Maria Sheffield's common sense conservative positive policy campaign at http Like the Maria Sheffield Facebook fanpage and follow her on Twitter: @mariasheffield.

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Stop Job Killng Regulations from DC. Conservative Common Sense from Maria Sheffield. - Video

The Adam Smith Institute said today marks Tax Freedom Day - the point in the calendar when Britons stop working for the Treasury and begin to earn for themselves.

The institute's director, Dr Eamonn Butler, said: "Tax Freedom Day, which the Adam Smith Institute has been calculating for 25 years, is the plainest way to show what the tax burden really is.

"That is why the Treasury hates it. They of course want to conceal how much tax we pay, which is why they are so keen on stealth taxes."

The think tank adds levies including Vat, income tax, national insurance, council tax, excise duties, air passenger taxes, fuel and vehicle taxes in its calculations.

Dr Butler blamed the double-dip recession and increased Vat for pushing back the date by 48 hours compared with last year.

He added: "The stark truth is that this burden costs us all 149 days of hard labour every year.

"That's not how long a rich person has to work - it is the time the average person must labour for the tax collectors."

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It’s Tax Freedom Day…unless you happen to be super rich (in which case it came and went some time ago)

By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune Published: May 30, 2012 Updated: May 30, 2012 - 6:00 AM

A car dealer accused of nearly $9 million in tax refund fraud whose freedom vexed Tampa's police chief for months was arrested Monday on 32 federal criminal charges.

Authorities say Russell B. Simmons Jr., 42, owner of Simmons Auto Sales on North 34th Street, used the proceeds of tax fraud to buy a $60,000 Bentley coupe and a lot of diamond jewelry, including a $30,000, 18-karat gold Rolex perpetual date watch with a diamond dial; a 14-karat gold men's bracelet with 2,420 diamonds; a 14-karat chain and "RS" pendant with 703 diamonds; and a 14-karat ring with 110 diamonds.

He was also found with a lot of cash: Simmons and some friends were stopped in November at the airport in Orlando en route to a boxing match in Los Vegas. The group was carrying $75,000 among them. The others told investigators the money came from Simmons, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mandy Riedel said.

Simmons is "very big to us," said John Joyce, special agent in charge of the Tampa office of the U.S. Secret Service, which helped investigate the case. Joyce called him "one of the bigger players" targeted through Operation Rainmaker, a joint federal, state and local investigation into tax refund fraud.

Defense attorney Nicholas Matassini Jr. said Simmons plans to "vigorously defend the case." He added, "Clearly, both sides have a lot of work to do."

Simmons was among a number of business owners arrested in the joint investigation last summer, initially on state identity theft and credit card fraud charges, after Secret Service agents searched his business Aug. 31. However, the charges were dismissed because of the pending federal investigation, and Simmons was allowed to go free.

As the case wore on, Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor went public with her irritation at the slow pace of the investigation into a piece of the tax fraud scourge spreading among street criminals. Authorities say hundreds of millions of dollars in bogus income tax returns have been processed from the Tampa area alone.

"We have an individual that we know did in the ballpark of $9 million in tax fraud," Castor said in February. "He was arrested and charged in September. And there's no reason for us to believe that he's slowed down at all."

In March, Tampa Detective Sal Augeri testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee in Washington about tax refund fraud and described the Simmons case without naming him. "We have no reason to believe he has stopped committing this crime," Augeri said then.

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Car dealer arrested in $9 million tax fraud case