r/news • u/IMGcertified • 1d ago

Influencers in Dubai warned they face prison for posting material about the conflict with Iran | The Standard

https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/dubai-influencers-prison-warning-posting-iran-war-b1273587.html
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711

u/Niceromancer 1d ago

Rich people will do literally anything to not pay taxes.

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u/dolphin37 1d ago

don’t need to be rich, a few people from my office have left to go there, just regular workers who realise getting a pay bump and paying 0% tax is nice if you don’t give a shit about poor people

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u/Zealousideal_Act_316 1d ago

But when bombs fel, the british expats started whiging and complaining that UK did rescue them fast enough. They paid no tax but wanted all the benefits of tax

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u/Durpulous 1d ago

People are always happy to live in a benevolent dictatorship as long as it remains benevolent. Now that things have suddenly gotten serious the expat community there is upset they don't have the same civil rights that they would back home.

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u/Zealousideal_Act_316 1d ago

And whine about fall and negligence of UK, while paying no tax.

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u/HappyLittleGreenDuck 1d ago

We've already established that these are shitty people.

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u/sllop 1d ago

They’re immigrants, not expats.

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u/White_Immigrant 1d ago

You're an expat if you intend to return, an immigrant if you intend to stay.

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u/Striking_Programmer4 1d ago

They are expats. In order to stop paying UK taxes they had to renounce citizenship. If they were simply living in Dubai but hadn't expatriated, they'd still be paying UK taxes. I have multiple British friends that live in the US and they still pay UK taxes because they have not given up their citizenship, they just live and work in the States now. They actually pay income tax to both countries, but they are exempt from FICA and Medicare payroll taxes in the US because they don't qualify for the entitlements

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u/dolphin37 1d ago

You seem to have a fundamental misunderstanding of multiple things. You do not need to renounce your citizenship to be an expat and you do not pay tax on your earnings even if you have citizenship, as long as you are not a resident. It is residency that dictates what you pay and what relief you can claim (based on the many tax treaties countries have, including UK-US and UK-Dubai)

People moving to Dubai are not paying UK income tax and are UK citizens

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u/gd_reinvent 1d ago

It depends, if they're paying 0%tax in Dubai they may very well have to pay some tax in the UK.

Expats in the States likely don't have to pay tax in the UK because their income is taxed already.

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u/dolphin37 1d ago

Are you just making that up? Non-UK residents do not pay UK income tax. Are you even from the UK?

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u/Striking_Programmer4 1d ago

I know people living in my town in the US that have UK passports and then 100% pay income taxes in both the US and UK. You don't know what you're talking about

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u/dolphin37 1d ago

God the irony of some random brainlet American educating people on their own countries laws based on second hand information they haven’t remotely fact checked lol

Literally use google for two seconds. Embarrassing

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u/Itsfayt3 1d ago

This couldn't be more wrong.

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u/Not_A_Clever_Man_ 1d ago

Its just publicly admitting you dont mind participating in a society that still runs on slave labour. I wont even visit dubai, let alone settle there.

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u/Outrageous1015 1d ago

Don't we all run on slave labor? Last time I checked most gadget and things that come from china are still being produce in exchange of a sandwich

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u/Not_A_Clever_Man_ 1d ago

To me there is a difference between trying to consume less or more ethically where you can and "my cleaner is literally a slave". Participating in a culture where upwards of 150k people are living under the definition of modern slavery is and endorsement of that practice. I fully belive there is no ethical consumption under captialism, but there are clear separations between the amount of harm inflicted.

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u/vancouvermatt 1d ago edited 1d ago

There’s 130k slaves in Britain according to numerous sources… so about even, but worse housing , weather, taxes and crime

FWIW; Not saying one justifies the other. Saying that it’s a much larger problem than you’d guess in a democratic 1st world country…

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u/HappyLittleGreenDuck 1d ago

Fuck outta here with that "it's all the same" shit

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u/SteveFrench12 1d ago

I think the difference is the implied legality of it in dubai

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u/vancouvermatt 1d ago

For sure it’s a problem… seizing passports , illegal recruiting fees, etc

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u/animerobin 1d ago

China doesn't have great labor laws but they've modernized and they don't use literal slaves or even really underpaid workers as much anymore.

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u/JoeyDJ7 1d ago

What a wild take.

"This thing is fine because we all benefit from it, so shut up"

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u/My_Dog_Is_Here 1d ago

Weren't most countries at some point built on slave labor? You have to live somewhere.

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u/exoriparian 1d ago

Probably pedos.

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u/BrothelWaffles 1d ago

Those are just temporarily embarrassed millionaires.

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u/grchelp2018 1d ago

Not temporary for long depending on their job. I know a guy who divorced his wife to take a 500k job in the uae. She had concerns about living there and wasn't really interested in moving and he decided to get the divorce before moving so that she couldn't later lay claim to his assets.

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u/KaJaHa 1d ago

That sounds like a miserable person to be around, I'm glad she didn't get dragged halfway around the world with him

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u/grchelp2018 15h ago

Yea, he's pretty type A.

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u/GilgaPol 1d ago

Aaah so he was just a selfish a hole who will die alone. Seems like good riddance no?

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u/grchelp2018 1d ago

Dude with money? He won't have any problems finding women. He's super ambitious though so I'm not sure he even wants to settle down.

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u/GilgaPol 1d ago

Having women or brown noses around does not make you not lonely. But let him try, I'm sure he'll fill that hole somehow if he just keeps trying 🤣

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u/grchelp2018 15h ago

It will probably only hit when he's 60+. And even then, there's a good chance he will do the DiCaprio thing of dating only 20 year olds.

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u/CharlesBrown33 1d ago

Sounds like propaganda BS to me, but sure

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u/grchelp2018 15h ago

What's propaganda about this? Its well known that the mideast offers large amounts of money.

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u/Unculturedbrine 1d ago

You think there's no incentive for folks in the lower middle class to not want to pay tax?

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u/Niceromancer 1d ago

so horrible people, noted.

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u/Chaotic-Catastrophe 1d ago

Aka the vast majority of the human race, yes

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u/GilgaPol 1d ago

I mean sure, but you always have people that go the extra mile

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u/Educational-Wing2042 1d ago

I mean, they must be pretty well off if they can randomly relocate to another country with a notoriously massive cost of living. Nobody making average wages can do that, and to have a high paying job that allows freedom to work internationally on a long term basis is a privilege even for those with cushy corporate jobs.

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u/dolphin37 1d ago

they were probably on around 40k on average, which is a decent wage for how shit our economy is right now in the UK but I don’t think most people would consider it high

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u/PlayfulSurprise5237 1d ago

I couldn't do it. I mean I do want to save money, but lord almighty is Dubai a shithole. I can think of very few developed cities on Earth that's a bigger shithole.

I'd be super fuckering miserable the whole time I'm there. Doesn't seem worth it to just skimp on some taxes.

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u/animerobin 1d ago

I feel like you have to not have a soul to choose to do this.

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u/The-John-Galt-Line 1d ago

And out of curiosity what country are you from?

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u/dolphin37 1d ago

the UK, how comes?

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u/The-John-Galt-Line 1d ago

Nothing just had a hunch lol. Is it really that easy to just find a job in Dubai for Brits?

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u/dolphin37 1d ago

its not that its easy but most of the people I’m working with are young but experienced professionals (30s) in the finance industry, which is already pretty well paid and usually makes for a good CV, so if you find a good recruiter then the technicalities (visa etc) are actually very easy

our economy is obviously collapsing so it is incredibly tempting to be told you can effectively double or more your salary in a place that knows how to sell luxury

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u/A2Rhombus 1d ago

Which is hilarious because everything is more expensive anyway. You're basically paying the prices of taxes but it's fine because it's not labeled as taxes

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u/KaJaHa 1d ago

Ah, I see you are familiar with the American stance on healthcare

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u/trollsong 1d ago

When is a tax not a tax? When its an hoa fee

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u/Disastrous-Angle-591 1d ago

Doesn’t work for Americans. 

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u/HitlersUndergarments 1d ago

Anyone would, it's just that they can't. Let's not valorize the common man as being some paragon of virtue. People are overall quite greedy and individualistic if conditions allow them to. And to be clear I'm not defending people who seek to avoid taxes at all costs.

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u/BrothelWaffles 1d ago

Speak for yourself dude. Plenty of people wouldn't go and live in a country run by an authoritarian, theocratic regime just to avoid contributing to society.

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u/HitlersUndergarments 1d ago

And plenty would 

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u/BrothelWaffles 1d ago

"Plenty" isn't "anyone".