The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax

[L84Cabo]

Supposedly all legal, right? I don't blame people for using the law to their advantage, that is the smart move. But it says something about our tax code.

Agreed. I think our entire tax structure needs an overhaul but it is what it is. I don't blame anyone for following the law to maximize what they keep.

And my problem with the whole mantra of "tax the rich" is that A) the government already takes in far more in taxes than what I believe is appropriate and necessary...and B) They can't/don't properly manage what they already take in. So NOT ONE MORE DAMN DIME to the government...regardless of where it comes from...until they clean house and get their shhh...err...crap together.

 

[ma96782]

Hummmm......how do I make this clear/clearer?

The point about the restaurant owner is that.....
He has food to feed his family (tax free and mostly cost free). When he feeds his family, it's a tax write off. It's on the restaurant's books. The restaurant is a separate entity.

Then (as the owner)......
Play with the books enough and he shows next to nothing as a profit for the business (him).

Ever wonder why those Chinese restaurant Owners have such huge safes in their homes?

Rrrright.....CASH.

And then, they get robbed. Family is held hostage while the owner if forced to open the safe at gun point. The robbers (usually described as masked men) are in for a big pay day and it's all in cash. The restaurant owner is reluctant to speak to the police for whatever reason (cultural issue or just afraid to explain the extensive amount of cash). Yeah.....the BMW and his wife's Mercedes Benz are also "delivery vehicles" for the business. And did I mention that he had lived in "subsidized public housing" with other Govt bennies for the longest time before I met him?

Don't get me wrong. He could have been a diligent saver. Yup......a great example of a Chinese-American success story.

Rrrrright.....

OK, Ok, ok.....so getting back to it.
All while, real/regular people have to pay for their food (and the tax on it) at the grocery store. All with earned income which is subject to regular income taxes. POINT, regular people don't get to feed their family for no cost or mostly free (and get a tax write off to boot).

Think about it......how much of your income is regularly spent to feed your family? ANOTHER POINT, it's not all about only the sales tax that is saved......there is much more here to gain/game.

For the record....
I don't I care about the mark up on his restaurant food or the ambiance at his restaurant. For all I know......he could be serving ally cat meat in your meal. HA, Ha, ha....... BTW, that's a common joke in Hawaii.

Aloha, Mark

 

[Dr Prepper]

As long as the wealthy got their wealth legally and what I consider to be ethically (they did not cheat or steal or defraud someone), I don't begrudge them their wealth. I consider a "fair share" to be proportional to how much gov cost they incur by their actions. So if someone lives in a shack and lives frugally, they should not have to pay more taxes just because they have billions in wealth or make billions in income.

I live fairly frugally, but some people would consider me to be wealthy due to my net worth, and/or because I used to make a 6 figure income. I don't consider it fair that my taxes are based on my income when I incur less gov expense than someone who makes half what I do.

When someone says it isn't "fair" for a person who makes $20K to pay the same tax rate as someone who makes $2M, they mean that they want to forcibly take $ from someone who earned it, and give it to someone who did not earn it. That isn't fairness, that is theft, even if it is legal. So no, I don't blame the wealthy for using every legal advantage they can to keep whatever they legally earned (even if it was passively earned).

Idk i bet most here would agree we SHOULD tax the everloving piss out of the church of Scientology. I would have zero qualms with that Or Hollywood but then again im biased AND spiteful on this specific topic. Its more of a punishment than a economics study though

 

[Lennie]

One common item that is in the posts and is an oft repeated maxim, businesses do not pay taxes. Everything they pay in taxes is included as a cost of the goods and services they sell consumers. At the end of the day, all the tax burden falls on consumers. It would be nice for politicians to expound this truth.

In this country, every state I'm aware of already tax personal property. No one ever mentions the taxes paid by wealthy on personal property.

Most states have sales tax. For the record, I would like to see what some of the wealthy pay in sales tax.

I do not feel a tax on monetary assets is a good idea as it represents a slippery slope with many risks. Capital is just like labor, it seeks the best wage (return on investment), quality conditions and the best long term situation. It is often easier for capital to seek new employment than the workers. People tend to forget that without capital, there would be few if any jobs.

 

[The Heretic]

Mark Cuban: ProPublica ‘not being honest’ about taxes on wealthy

Mark Cuban, the billionaire owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks, argued that a bombshell report from ProPublica this week did not honestly examine what would happen if the wealthiest Americans were…

thehill.com

 

[ma96782]

Or....
Change the GAME rules?

How president's death tax will hit modest estates especially hard

President Biden has promised not to raise taxes on the middle class but plans to end an inheritance loophole could do just that, according to a new analysis.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I see it as......
As with most things (speaking of the rich and taxes).......there is a line. Where you draw the line is subject to debate.


Aloha, Mark

PS.....how are you doing? At keeping up with the Joneses.

How Do You Stack Up To the Average Income in Your State?

See where your income ranks relative to every state in the U.S.

www.gobankingrates.com

Yes, there are also county to county differences. Example in WA or OR.

Living Wage Calculator - Counties and Metropolitan Statistical Areas in Washington

livingwage.mit.edu

Living Wage Calculator - Counties and Metropolitan Statistical Areas in Oregon

livingwage.mit.edu

 

[The Heretic]

Or....
Change the GAME rules?

How president's death tax will hit modest estates especially hard

President Biden has promised not to raise taxes on the middle class but plans to end an inheritance loophole could do just that, according to a new analysis.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I see it as......
As with most things (speaking of the rich and taxes).......there is a line. Where you draw the line is subject to debate.


Aloha, Mark

PS.....how are you doing? At keeping up with the Joneses.

How Do You Stack Up To the Average Income in Your State?

See where your income ranks relative to every state in the U.S.

www.gobankingrates.com

Yes, there are also county to county differences. Example in WA or OR.

Living Wage Calculator - Counties and Metropolitan Statistical Areas in Washington

livingwage.mit.edu

Living Wage Calculator - Counties and Metropolitan Statistical Areas in Oregon

livingwage.mit.edu

The line I draw is not to penalize people for wealth that they acquired legally and ethically, whether it is inherited or not, no matter how they earned it.

 

[Boboclown]

the BMW and his wife's Mercedes Benz are also "delivery vehicles" for the business

Nothing new. Having the vehicle be the company asset saves them money on taxes. Its what they would have paid towards taxes, but they get an asset instead of nothing.

My laptop, TV, even hotel rooms are tax deductibles for me. I also keep my receipts for this purpose. Is it right? Is it wrong? I don't really care, government goes out of its way to screw me over so I'm using every deductible I can.

 

[The Heretic]

This is the thing about income tax. So many ways to get around it, and most of them are perfectly legal, those that aren't are hard to prove.

Consumption/sales taxes are not so easy, and are more directly proportional to your "cost" (how much gov cost you incur).

Wealth tax isn't fair either, and will just drive that wealth and people out of the country. There was a OPB/NPR show on this article a few days ago and they went into it more in depth, trying to make a case for it without saying anything about alternatives, the downsides, and no mention of the fact that if you tax wealth, then you will just drive that wealth out of the country and people will hide it too.

No mention of the fact that if you tax "wealth" in the form of investments, then you drive investment out of the country too.

 

[The Heretic]

No mention of the fact that if you tax "wealth" in the form of investments, then you drive investment out of the country too.

A Record Buyout Is Just the Start as Wealthy Flee Tax Hike

(Bloomberg) -- For 110 years, four generations of Mills family members earned their money by expanding their great-grandfather’s Chicago apron business into a medical supplier that ranked among the nation’s largest private companies.But soon after Democrats turned their attention toward raising...

finance.yahoo.com

 

[Boboclown]

Oh, art is another way they can get out of it. Pay someone a few hundred to make some art. Pay an appraiser a few grand, appraiser looks then says yeup a few million. Donate the painting. Well, you just donated something worth a few million as a tax credit.

Every few years they'll do that, rest of the time they'll pay just enough taxes to keep the government happy enough.