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

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (681581)	10/29/2012 11:34:45 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1585218

Bloomberg News: Romney ‘rented’ Mormon church’s exemption to defer taxes for 15 years By David Edwards Monday, October 29, 2012 15:08 EDT rawstory.com Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney used a loophole to “rent” the Mormon church’s tax exemption status and defer paying taxes for 15 years, according to a new report. Tax returns obtained by Bloomberg News through a Freedom of Information Act request indicated that Romney set up a charitable remainder unitrust (CRUT) in June 1996 just before Congress cracked down on the loophole in 1997. “In this instance, Romney used the tax-exempt status of a charity — the Mormon Church, according to a 2007 filing — to defer taxes for more than 15 years,” Bloomberg’s Jesse Drucker explained. “At the same time he is benefitting, the trust will probably leave the church with less than what current law requires.” Estates lawyer Jonathan Blattmachr told Bloomberg that Romney’s trust benefits from the Mormon church’s exempt status because charities don’t pay capital gains taxes when they make a profit from the sale of assets. “The main benefit from a charitable remainder trust is the renting from your favorite charity of its exemption from taxation,” Blattmachr said, adding that the charitable contribution “is just a throwaway” and the church would receive little if any financial benefit from the trust. “I used to structure them so the value dedicated to charity was as close to zero as possible without being zero,” he pointed out. The CRUT allows individuals to “defer capital gains taxes on any profit from the sale of the assets, and receive a small upfront charitable deduction and a stream of yearly cash payments,” Drucker wrote. “Like an individual retirement account, the trust allows money to grow tax deferred, while like an annuity it also pays Romney a steady income. After the funder’s death, the trust’s remaining assets go to a designated charity.” In fact, the amount available to go to the Mormon church has decreased from at least $750,000 in 2001 to $421,203 at the end of 2011 as Romney has collected yearly cash payments from the trust. The Romney campaign declined to answer questions about the trust but insisted that it was “operated in accordance with the law” in an email to Bloomberg. The trust represents a small fraction of Romney’s more than $250 million fortune and is only one of several methods the formal Bain Capital CEO has employed to avoid paying taxes. Earlier this year, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), who is also a Mormon, had suggested that the Republican presidential nominee refused to release his tax returns because he had not paid any income taxes over a 10-year period. In a September speech on the Senate floor, Reid said that leaked tapes insulting the 47 percent of Americans who don’t pay income taxes as “dependant” on the government have gave the world a “rare look at the real Mitt Romney.” “For all we know Mitt Romney could be one of those who have paid no federal income tax. Thousands of families making more than a million dollars per year pay nothing in federal income tax,” the Nevada Democrat observed. “Is Mitt Romney among those? We’ll never know because he refuses to release his tax returns.” “We know that Mitt Romney pays a lower tax rate than middle-class families, thanks to a number of things he’s done: Swiss bank accounts, Cayman Islands tax shelters. And we can only imagine what new secrets would be revealed if he showed the American people a dozen years of tax returns like his dad did.” Reid noted that most of “those people” who Romney talked about “are not avoiding their tax bills using Cayman Islands tax shelters or Swiss Bank accounts like Mitt Romney. Millions of the 47 percent are seniors on Social Security, who don’t have Bain Capital retirement funds or inherited stock to fall back on.”

To: Tenchusatsu who wrote (681581)	10/29/2012 11:38:49 PM
From: tejek	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 1585218

Chrysler 3Q net profit up 80% to $381M By Bryce G. Hoffman The Detroit News Chrysler Group LLC reported a net profit of $381 million for the third quarter of 2012 on Monday, up 80 percent from the $212 million profit the company reported for the same period a year ago. It was further proof that the Auburn Hills automaker's recovery is continuing, and should help offset the losses that its Italian parent company, Fiat SpA, is expected to announce on Tuesday. "The third-quarter financial results that we released today represent another pillar in the platform of accountability that we are building," Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said in an email to employees Monday, a copy of which was obtained by The Detroit News. "Our competitors are not showing signs of vulnerability, and we will have to continue fighting for our share. But we are going in the right direction, and I simply ask you to keep faith in Chrysler and in each other and keep working to shape this company and our collective future exactly as we all want it to be." Monday's results mark the third consecutive quarter of solid profitability for the company, which means the 26,000 members of the United Auto Workers employed in Chrysler's factories are one step closer to receiving the rest of their signing bonus as stipulated by the unions 2011 agreement with the automaker. "Based on third-quarter earnings, Chrysler Group LLC confirms that it has met three quarters of the financial threshold required to pay the second half of the UAW contract ratification bonus," said company spokeswoman Jodi Tinson in a statement. If Chrysler's recovery remains on track, those workers will receive a check for $1,750 next year. Marchionne said Chrysler is still on track to make about $1.5 billion this year and expects free cash flow to be "well in excess of $1 billion." Chrysler ended the quarter with $11.9 billion in cash — down from $12.1 billion at the end of the second quarter, but up from $9.5 billion a year ago. The company's gross industrial debt totaled $12.6 billion, up from $12.5 billion as of June 30. Chrysler has benefited from its focus on the North American automobile market, which is experiencing a modest rebound. Fiat remains heavily dependent on its European business, which has withered in the face of the ongoing economic crisis in the region. Net revenue for the quarter was 18 percent to $15.5 billion, thanks to a 19 percent increase in shipments. Chrysler shipped 559,000 vehicles during the third quarter compared to 469,000 during the same period in 2011. Since emerging from bankruptcy in 2009, Chrysler has not only returned to solid profitability, but also announced investments of more than $4.5 billion in the United States and Canada, repaid its government loans in full with interest six years ahead of schedule and launched 18 new or refreshed cars and trucks. Fiat currently owns 58.5 percent of Chrysler and is trying to purchase another 3.3 percent of the company from its other owner, an hourly retiree health care trust run by the United Auto Workers. From The Detroit News: detroitnews.com