My body double in Connecticut has really enjoyed getting to know you all these years, but now it’s time for me to make a confession. I have actually been selling the right to use my name to a Connecticut-based doppelganger who pays me his entire income for the use my name. Financially, it works out pretty well, since my namesake gets to write this transaction off as business expense and pays no taxes his income. And the silly little state government here in South Dakota doesn’t tax any of my income, so I keep 100% of the “royalties” from the use of my name.
It’s not a bad gig – and if you think the Connecticut Jon Green is the only one out there, just try googling me and you’ll see. (I’m also a gastroenterologist in New Jersey, an IT consultant in Wisconsin, and a jazz guitarist in London.)
Unfortunately, while most state policy leaders have willfully turned a blind eye to this practice for years, some regulators at the Department of Public Utility Control seem to have accidentally stumbled across evidence of AT&T doing the same thing. Apparently AT&T, Connecticut purchases the rights to use its own name from an affiliate in Nevada, a state which has no corporate income taxes. Now that pesky Attorney General you have in Connecticut is conducting an investigation.
The sudden publicity might help some so-called “advocacy groups” push for legislation called “combined reporting” which would prohibit these tax avoidance shell games. And in the ultimate case of biting the hand that feeds him, it appears that my Connecticut doppelganger is also an advocate for this, which has me more than a little tweaked (and may even be a breach of contract).
Anyway, I make a lot more money from the gastroenterologist.