Ruling opens U.S. to foreign retaliation

[LeighAnn]

From the Seattle Post-Intelligecer

Think you have a tax problem? A Supreme Court ruling this week could leave Uncle Sam, and American taxpayers, liable for untold millions on U.S. diplomatic properties abroad.

While New York City celebrates the decision allowing it to sue foreign governments for more than $100 million in back property taxes, the State Department is bracing for retaliation overseas.

The fear is that governments will take similar measures against the United States, which maintains the world's largest diplomatic presence with more than 3,500 buildings. Many of them could be subject to taxation by local authorities and lawsuits to recover money owed.


More broadly, the finding could also jeopardize traditional rights and privileges that date back to ancient Greece and are enshrined in international treaties, notably the Vienna Convention, which grants immunity from most civil and criminal prosecutions to diplomats on foreign soil.

The court's 7-2 ruling chipped away at some of those immunities by finding that New York has jurisdiction to sue the governments of India and Mongolia for nearly $20 million, more than $41 million with interest, in property taxes local authorities say are owed on residences at the countries' U.N. diplomatic missions in Manhattan.

More

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/1152AP_Diplomatic_Retaliation.html

[whistle]

1. Wow, just how much would the property taxes be on the new BushCo embassy

...in Iraq? Let see, $550,000,000.00 at 18 mills per year so that would come to $550,000 X $18.00 = $9,990,000.00 in property taxes just for that one facility. Then there are the 14 military bases, the detention centers, etc. Was Bush aware of these costs when he decided to occupy Iraq forever? How about all of the properties owned by U.S. religious groups in Iraq and around the world as well. I'm sure that Muslim governments would not hesitate to levy taxes on them either.