I am in Seattle for client meetings this week…

I may be offline for a day or two. Our power, cellphone and internet connection survived the first 2 feet of snow of the current snowstorm, but the state of Connecticut has now ordered us to brace for an upcoming ice storm. Here is the U.S. most power, telephone and cable connections are above-ground, unlike in most other countries.

And ice on powerlines guarantees outages. Bear with me – I will update this post when the storm has passed.

Good Evening,

The following is a message from the Region One Assistant Superintendent.  Due to information received from the Governor, the Office of the Commissioner and the current winter weather advisory for our area, all Region One Schools will be closed tomorrow, February 11^th.  Thank you and have a nice evening.

UPDATE: Power and communications are on. Schools are starting up with a half-day today.

Oh well, I should have considered the hypocrisy… I wrote earlier (see http://www.us-vat.com/blog/?p=573) about the UK PM confusing the dogmas of tax avoidance and tax evasion. He said that there are situations – even if companies adhere to the letter and intent of the tax law – where minimizing tax liability must be considered immoral.

That was a couple of weeks ago.

Today Chancellor George Osborne announced that the UK are happy to make a one-off tax exemption for Usain Bolt – the venerable sprinter – and other foreign athletes, so that they don’t have to pay UK income tax over their winnings and sponsor income.

This helps the athletes to compete at the Diamond League competition, on July 27 in London.

The Standard writes:

“With the exception of the Olympics, Bolt has not raced in Britain since 2009 because tax rules for foreign sports stars would leave him out of pocket.

Mr Osborne said: “The Government is determined to do everything possible to secure the Olympic legacy and I am delighted to grant this exemption.”

Tax laws are being put aside for other benefits. Sounds to me like government-sponsored tax evasion…

Tax break to bring Usain Bolt back to Olympic stadium – UK – News – London Evening Standard.

… and I have been promised a bug fix soon…

My apologies if you are unable to read pdf documents that are attached to certain posts – a fix is under way.

(Frankenstorm bingo from Gothamist.com)

Bathtubs are filled, all batteries recharged, generator tested and fueled, kids are off from school, cars are fueled – we are ready to give Sandy a warm welcome.

However, power outages and internet / cellphone interruptions have already been reported in the area, so I will suspend blogging until power is back on.

If you are looking for a Starbucks – they have all closed, except for the one in the Marriott Marquis on 45th St.

Stay safe, and Happy Halloween!

Update: Starbucks in Manhattan are mostly closed, but wifi works if there is power.

Update (10/31): I am back online with power and internet, cellphone still down.

Folks – I am going to be on leave during the first three weeks of August. I will be in Seattle during the first week of August, and traveling the area (Olympic NP, Mt Rainier, Portland OR) for the balance of the vacation.

If you are in Seattle in the first week of August, and have a moment to join me for a coffee and contemplate VAT and provide travel tips – please let me know: mark@us-vat.com. Always happy to catch up.

I will spend my vacation mostly on vacationing, but there are articles (for the Dutch “BTW-Bulletin”), webcasts (on September 6) and conferences (Vertex Exchange in October) to be prepped. I will provide more details when I’m back.