Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (580616)	8/11/2010 11:51:08 PM
From: i-node	2 Recommendations Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1576402

To the extent he does avoid tax liability, by donating to charity There are tons of reasons a person can make a lot of money and pay little or no taxes, all legitimate. One of the most common is that wealthy people also are often taking risks with their dollars, which means some years they don't make money, they LOSE money, which generates NOL carryforwards (probably not in Buffet's case). In addition, wealthy individuals tend to invest in tax-free bonds, which means they accept a lower rate of return in exchange for that favorable tax status. What people forget is that this is a huge source of funding for public works projects that simply wouldn't happen without the tax-exempt status. The reason the tax code is structured as it is is NOT to provide some kind of "break" for the wealthy, rather, it is to encourage the wealthy to do certain things with their money which are considered to be good public policy. I don't know why the complainers can't see this. If you tax away the tax benefits associated with tax free bonds and charitable contributions, localities everywhere will suffer.