XPost: alt.computer.workshop, alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, comp.os.linux.advocacy
From: recscuba_google@huntzinger.com

On 6/21/24 3:46 PM, David Brooks wrote:
> On 21/06/2024 20:21, Chris Ahlstrom wrote:
>> -hh wrote this copyrighted missive and expects royalties:
>>
>>> TL;DR:
>>> be honest and make comparisons based on total taxes, not just by
>>> cherrypicking one individual tax within the whole.
>>
>> +1
>>
>> Still, recall that EXPOTUSSFB45 at one time paid more taxes to Chy-na
>> than to the U.S.
>
> Are you referring to Ex-POTUS Donald Trump?

That would be my guess too.

In any event, that individual is an effective illustration how there's
tons of income tax loopholes which enable the "1%" to pay lower net tax
rates than much of America that basically aren't available to normal
folk who get a W-2 from their employer.  This is because there's a huge
amount of latitude in what can be written off as a business expense that
benefits the business owner.

A huge one is in Real Estate, in that profits of a sale of a property
are tax-deferred if it is reinvested in another property.  Eventually,
those profits become permanently tax-free when the owner dies:  family
gains generational wealth, as the first $12M of an Estate is Tax free.

Similarly, business expense write-offs can offset: more meals become
either a business comp or are a business expense written off as client
entertainment - lowers one's daily costs of everyday life, so more
income is retained instead of spent.

Another one that's more relevant to some of these newsgroups has to do
with personal computers:  they're written off as a business expense
which goes to zero after it has depreciated, at which point the business
can hand off the old PC for free as a personal possession.

Plus there's ways to "finesse" on this:  after Fed accelerated
depreciation has been taken (it was recently just 1 year), have the
business incur a business expense to "pay" someone to recycle it, where
this payment conveniently aligns perfectly with the remaining State
depreciation.  Business owner gets a 1 year old laptop for free, plus
got paid to 'dispose' of it.

Or outright cheating:  business buys a new laptop to replace an existing
PC, but keeps the old PC that it was supposedly replacing in service in
the office:  that new laptop goes to the owner's kid in college.

And for both of these .. oops, we goofed on who pays the Office 365
subscription!  /s


Recall also how Warren Buffet has commented about how his income tax
rate was lower than his W2-earning secretary:  that's typically due to
income from Long Term Capital Gains & Qualified Dividends being taxed at
rates lower than personal income (eg, 15% vs 24%).


-hh

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
 * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)