As year end approaches and people start thinking about getting their paperwork and accounting in order for taxes, I’d like to point people in the direction of a couple of blogs written by one of my visitors, Peter Reilly. He’s written about the downside of being an IBO and claiming EVERYTHING related to Amway on your tax return.
Obviously brainwashed ambots will counsel with upline for their tax advice. Those upline bastards are usually full of shit and are known for giving bad advice. Too many ambots rely on making their money in Amway in the form of a tax refund from Uncle Sam by claiming their Amway expenses as deductions against their income from their regular employment. Not a good idea. Any questions regarding filing your taxes should be directed to an accountant with expertise in this area, not some upline ambot who encourages his downline to cheat on their taxes.
Anna - This is perhaps the most extraordinary and obvious piece of evidence proving 'Amway/MLM' to be an ongoing racket, and which has recently been highlighted by Peter Reilly.
ReplyDeleteA much-feared agency of the US federal government, the Internal Revenue Service, systematically refuses as illegitimate, all 'Amway'-related 'business expense claims' made by Ambots against other legitimate revenues. The IRS has even issued an internal booklet to its own agents, explaining the unique federal tax-policy on 'Amway'. This is just in case some ill-informed, little IRS agent might be deceived by arrogant 'Ambots' steadfastly pretending to be grown-up (but insolvent) businessmen and women who (one day soon) will be making net-profits.
The IRS, which holds the quantifiable evidence (or rather lack of quantifiable evidence) knows full-well that there is no record of significant numbers of people ever having paid income-tax on net-profits derived from regularly retailing 'Amway' wampum to the public. Thus, based on its own records, the IRS classifies 'Amway' participation as nothing more than an expensive hobby, social activity or entertainment which can never be expected to produce any net-income for its adherents.
However, this means that the directors of the IRS are fully-aware that, for the previous 50+ years, the so-called 'Amway MLM income opportunity' has been a cancerous lie gnawing its way into traditional American culture and causing extensive financial and psychological damage to millions of constantly- churning American citizens.
By remaining silent, the directors of the IRS have actually been complicit in hiding the 'Amway' racket from the public. They ought to be damn-well ashamed of themselves, but what do tax officials care about the public?
David Brear (copyright 2011)
Hi Anna:
ReplyDeleteI know your blog is dedicated to getting out the truth about your "upline sack of shit" and all the crap that goes on within the Amway motivation organizations and not really with Amway the corporation itself, though they are complicit in allowing or turning a blind eye to these abuses, so they have someone to sell their overpriced, substandard products to. I just would like to share an observation I made while in Grand Rapids, the birthplace of Amway this past Wednesday, while getting repairs done on my bass violin.
You probably already know that VanAndel Arena, Devos Hall and The Amway Grand Plaza hotel are in downtown Grand Rapids. All built through the benevolence (sarcasm intended) of those families. It seems as though everything is being named after those guys. There is now Helen Devos Children's Hospital, VanAndel Institute, The DeVos Campus of Grand Rapids Community College and probably more that I didn't see because I had to keep my eye on traffic. There is also a sign on U.S. 131 coming into town telling you what exit to take to get to Devos Place! I thought to myself what isn't named after those hucksters in this city ? I guess the idea is that if you give enough money to something, they'll name the building or cause in your honor. That seems to, at least in my mind, run counter to what true charity and benevolence is all about.
I didn't let that spoil my day, as I got a chance to look at some fabulous basses and get caught up on some of the latest with my friends at Guarneri House.
David B - Once us victims realize that complaining to Amway about upline abuse is useless because Amway doesn't give a flying fuck, our only recourse against our upline is to report them on the tax cheaters tip line. Amway doesn't give a flying fuck either if their agents get audited. The Amway bigwigs must be so flattered that the IRS has specific guidelines about them!
ReplyDeleteOur accountant refused to handle anything to do with Amway stating that she only deals with legitimate businesses. That left me holding a bunch of Amway related invoices that I had no idea what to do with. I stuffed them in an envelope and put them in our filing cabinet. Eventually I'll see them again and toss them out I suppose!
Accountants are there to help us with legitimate deductions and to try to lower our income so we have less taxes to pay. They are also there to advise us if we might be leaing ourselves open for risk. People don't need to use an accountant to file taxes. You can do your own if you can figure out all that paperwork or get someone else to do it for you. I'm assuming that most IBO's fall under that do it yourself category when it comes to taxes and go wild with Amway deductions. That's how they make their money in Amway in the form of a refund from the tax man.
2nd David - Its been many years since I've driven through Michigan and I wasn't near Grand Rapids. Sounds like you've just given us a good reason to avoid coming to town!
ReplyDeleteMost of the things you mentioned would be business type deductions so that's a big incentive for Amway to make these "contributions". Lowers their taxable income and makes them look like hot shit to the public.
And way to go on playing the bass violin. I'm envious of anyone who can play an instrument or sing. I tend to be on the tone deaf side! Amazed you couldn't find an instrument repair person anywhere else but Grand Rapids!
Anna you voiced my sentiments precisely about these contributions being a big tax incentive for Amway, along with helping them look like benevolent benefactors.
ReplyDeleteThe reason I go to Guarneri House in Grand Rapids is that I have done business with them for over 20 years and I trust them. Being a classical bassist, it is extremely difficult to find basses, bows and other things a bassist needs to my liking. Steve, the owner and luthier has made basses and bows for bassists in many major symphony orchestras, like the Pittsburgh Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic and Danish Radio Orchestra. Steve was at one time a bassist in The Detroit Symphony. Playing in one of these orchestras could be equated with playing in The NFL or major league baseball. I personally am not at that level in my playing. I would classify myself as an "advanced student" when it comes to bass playing.
Here's the 'tax cheater hotline" number:
ReplyDelete800-829-0433
Turn 'em in!
Here's a complete article about it, apparently the reporting person can get up to 15% reward of whatever the IRS collects.
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/itax/news/20030221a1.asp
Report them all!
Ooohhh! Great link Connie!
ReplyDeleteThe problem is the whatever the IRS can collect. When it comes to IBO's most of them have no money. The upline tends to prey on the more disadvantaged segment of society. Either no job or low paying one. Probably don't own a house or a car they can attach to. Kind of sneaky that you have to know the name of that form for the reward and ask for it upfront or your tip is a freebie!
Anna - As you know, the worst that the IRS can do to Ambots, is refuse to allow their fake 'Amway business expenses' to be deducted against authentic revenues. If the IRS was to dig deeply into the accounts of most long-term Ambots, then quite a number would probably wind up being fined, and/or bankrupted, for persistently cheating the system.
ReplyDeleteThere are, however, some far more important tax issues to be considered with regard to the 'Amway' bosses and their many copy-cats. Sadly, it is not in the interests of the tax authorities to examine these issues honestly, because they would then have to face the fact that they have been participating, and continue to participate, in a major ongoing racket.
In Britain, the 'Amway' racket operated for 34 years (1973-2007) without any real regulation; secretly churning at least one million victims and secretly generating an estimated $one billion from the related advance fee fraud a.k.a. 'tool scam'. Most of this money was collected in cash, and shipped to Dexter Yager and his criminal associates in the USA, without any payment of UK tax.
However, the counterfeit corporate front for this organized crime wave, 'Amway UK Ltd.,' voluntarily paid Value Added (sales) Tax on all the smokescreen 'sales' between itself and its own insolvent victims. For most of this period, VAT was approximately 15-20%. Thus, each year for 34 years, millions of $ were collected by the British government from a dissimulated money circulation scheme, or pyramid scam, which itself was the entrance to a billion $ advance fee fraud.
It's no wonder that UK trade regulators only pursued a low-level civil investigation and prosecution of 'Amway UK Ltd.' and that senior UK law enforcement agents have refused to pursue a rigorous criminal inquiry into the global 'Amway' racket.
Essentially, the same ludicrous situation exists all over the world. And it's very reminiscent of the tobacco industry.
The billionaire 'Amway' bosses and their many copy-cats, have set up a criminogenic system where they have been inflicting extensive damage on the public, but governments have turned a blind eye, because governments have been profiting massively from this crime against the public. To date, senior government officials have been too morally and intellectually bankrupt to face this gruesome reality.
Thus, on paper, Ambots can appear to be lawful 'retail customers', because they have been obliged to pay retail sales tax, whilst Ambots are exempted from charging retail sales tax to the public, but they have not been obliged to respect the law and regularly retail goods, and/or sevices, to the public for a profit. Furthermore, Ambots have not been obliged by the tax authorities to prove that they have retailed anything to the public.
Obviously, this titanic, endless-chain recruitment fraud ( that has laundered countless billions of $ of illegal payments simply by calling them 'retail sales') could be stopped, by blocking the retail sales tax loophole which hides it.
A child could work this out, but apparently it's beyond the intellectual capacity of our legislators who are paid by the public to protect the public, not to protect racketeers.
David Brear (copyright 2011)
David - I don't know if most people would actually report tax cheaters to the IRS whether or not it has anything to do with Amway. Most people probably know and like the person they suspect or know is a tax cheat and wouldn't do it. Also unless they actually see the tax return they might decide they don't have enough proof to file a report. Then there's the whole its none of my business so I'm not getting involved mentality which is me except when it comes to people I don't like! Also a lot of people think the government already sticks it to us enough and takes enough money from us so if someone is sticking it back at them then more power to them.
ReplyDeleteCan you imagine the paperwork and people hours involved if the IRS did an audit on every ambot!?
I'm adding this link for those who want to see more info about this so called "business opportunity" It's an expose from Dateline NBC in 2004.
ReplyDeletehttp://msnbc.msn.com/id/4375477/
Unfortunately, nothing has changed.