<story><title>IRS records reveal how the wealthiest avoid income tax</title><url>https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ashtonkem</author><text>&amp;gt; I’m all for people paying taxes they owe. I’m against vigilante style leaks when the target hasn’t committed a crime.&lt;p&gt;This is the obvious consequence of a system that feels unfair and unresponsive via normal channels.</text></item><item><author>mc32</author><text>I’m all for people paying taxes they owe.  I’m against vigilante style leaks when the target hasn’t committed a crime.&lt;p&gt;Just because the person is not a sympathetic figure doesn’t mean it gives people the right to leak this kind of info, be they Bezos, Clinton, Soros, Koch, Gates, etc.  get them on actual evasion if they have.&lt;p&gt;Otherwise what’s the purpose, rich people use tools to minimize their taxes?  Ok, publish what the tools are and promote change in the tax code.</text></item><item><author>danso</author><text>&amp;gt; &lt;i&gt;It&amp;#x27;s everything we&amp;#x27;ve already known.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; &lt;i&gt;A more interesting question is how did ProPublica get a copy of Jeff Bezos&amp;#x27; tax returns. Seems like a leak at the IRS?&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yes the actual tax records are what make the story interesting, even if the data only confirms what “everyone knows” — at least there’s actual data and empirical analysis of the scope.&lt;p&gt;According to this accompanying explainer, the leak is anonymous:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.propublica.org&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;why-we-are-publishing-the-tax-secrets-of-the-001&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.propublica.org&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;why-we-are-publishing-the...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; &lt;i&gt;A second question certain to arise is the motives and identity of the source who has provided this data to ProPublica. We live in an age in which people with access to information can copy it with the click of a mouse and transmit it in a variety of ways to news organizations. Many years ago, ProPublica and other news organizations set up secure systems that allow whistleblowers to transmit information to us without revealing their identity.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; &lt;i&gt;We do not know the identity of our source. We did not solicit the information they sent us. The source says they were motivated by our previous coverage of issues surrounding the IRS and tax enforcement, but we do not know for certain that is true. We have considered the possibility that information we have received could have come from a state actor hostile to American interests. In particular, a number of government agencies were compromised last year by what the U.S. has said were Russian hackers who exploited vulnerabilities in software sold by SolarWinds, a Texas-based information technology company. We do note, however, that the Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration wrote in December that, “At this time, there is no evidence that any taxpayer information was exposed” in the SolarWinds hack.&lt;/i&gt;</text></item><item><author>koheripbal</author><text>Summary:&lt;p&gt;1. Capital Gain taxes are delayed until you actually sell the stock.&lt;p&gt;2. Corporate taxes are being reduced because companies are moving profits to foreign jurisdictions.&lt;p&gt;3. Estate taxes &amp;amp; income taxes are being avoided by the creation of charitable foundations.&lt;p&gt;The 2nd and 3rd points are very valid, and I wish the author had spent more time on them.  Unfortunately instead, the author spends much more time on point 1, conflating wealth with income, and avoiding the obvious argument that capital gains are &lt;i&gt;eventually&lt;/i&gt; taxed - the rich are not escaping that.&lt;p&gt;...unless point 3 (foundation) occurs.  And that should be the main story.&lt;p&gt;Squabbling over a wealth tax is not useful.  The real issue is that the super rich create these personal &amp;quot;foundations&amp;quot; that act as never-taxed income holes, and then use them as personal and political tools.&lt;p&gt;In total, there&amp;#x27;s nothing very revealing about this article.  It&amp;#x27;s everything we&amp;#x27;ve already known.  IMO, we need to curb foreign tax havens, and severely limit tax exemptions for charitable donations.&lt;p&gt;A more interesting question is how did ProPublica get a copy of Jeff Bezos&amp;#x27; tax returns.  Seems like a leak at the IRS?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>koheripbal</author><text>I don&amp;#x27;t think these vague emotional statements are constructive.&lt;p&gt;The rules outlined in the article apply to everyone, not just the rich, and they should be fixed for everyone, not just the rich.&lt;p&gt;In this case leaking Jeff Bezos&amp;#x27; tax returns targeted one individual and provided no new useful information.  It&amp;#x27;s exactly what we already expected about his taxes.&lt;p&gt;...and frankly, the &amp;quot;rich are evil - look how they don&amp;#x27;t pay taxes on unrealized gains&amp;quot; is a huge distraction from fixing the &lt;i&gt;actual&lt;/i&gt; problems with the tax system.&lt;p&gt;We need to eliminate foreign tax havens, and severely limit non-profit &amp;quot;Foundations&amp;quot;.</text></comment>
<story><title>IRS records reveal how the wealthiest avoid income tax</title><url>https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>ashtonkem</author><text>&amp;gt; I’m all for people paying taxes they owe. I’m against vigilante style leaks when the target hasn’t committed a crime.&lt;p&gt;This is the obvious consequence of a system that feels unfair and unresponsive via normal channels.</text></item><item><author>mc32</author><text>I’m all for people paying taxes they owe.  I’m against vigilante style leaks when the target hasn’t committed a crime.&lt;p&gt;Just because the person is not a sympathetic figure doesn’t mean it gives people the right to leak this kind of info, be they Bezos, Clinton, Soros, Koch, Gates, etc.  get them on actual evasion if they have.&lt;p&gt;Otherwise what’s the purpose, rich people use tools to minimize their taxes?  Ok, publish what the tools are and promote change in the tax code.</text></item><item><author>danso</author><text>&amp;gt; &lt;i&gt;It&amp;#x27;s everything we&amp;#x27;ve already known.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; &lt;i&gt;A more interesting question is how did ProPublica get a copy of Jeff Bezos&amp;#x27; tax returns. Seems like a leak at the IRS?&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;Yes the actual tax records are what make the story interesting, even if the data only confirms what “everyone knows” — at least there’s actual data and empirical analysis of the scope.&lt;p&gt;According to this accompanying explainer, the leak is anonymous:&lt;p&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.propublica.org&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;why-we-are-publishing-the-tax-secrets-of-the-001&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.propublica.org&amp;#x2F;article&amp;#x2F;why-we-are-publishing-the...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; &lt;i&gt;A second question certain to arise is the motives and identity of the source who has provided this data to ProPublica. We live in an age in which people with access to information can copy it with the click of a mouse and transmit it in a variety of ways to news organizations. Many years ago, ProPublica and other news organizations set up secure systems that allow whistleblowers to transmit information to us without revealing their identity.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;gt; &lt;i&gt;We do not know the identity of our source. We did not solicit the information they sent us. The source says they were motivated by our previous coverage of issues surrounding the IRS and tax enforcement, but we do not know for certain that is true. We have considered the possibility that information we have received could have come from a state actor hostile to American interests. In particular, a number of government agencies were compromised last year by what the U.S. has said were Russian hackers who exploited vulnerabilities in software sold by SolarWinds, a Texas-based information technology company. We do note, however, that the Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration wrote in December that, “At this time, there is no evidence that any taxpayer information was exposed” in the SolarWinds hack.&lt;/i&gt;</text></item><item><author>koheripbal</author><text>Summary:&lt;p&gt;1. Capital Gain taxes are delayed until you actually sell the stock.&lt;p&gt;2. Corporate taxes are being reduced because companies are moving profits to foreign jurisdictions.&lt;p&gt;3. Estate taxes &amp;amp; income taxes are being avoided by the creation of charitable foundations.&lt;p&gt;The 2nd and 3rd points are very valid, and I wish the author had spent more time on them.  Unfortunately instead, the author spends much more time on point 1, conflating wealth with income, and avoiding the obvious argument that capital gains are &lt;i&gt;eventually&lt;/i&gt; taxed - the rich are not escaping that.&lt;p&gt;...unless point 3 (foundation) occurs.  And that should be the main story.&lt;p&gt;Squabbling over a wealth tax is not useful.  The real issue is that the super rich create these personal &amp;quot;foundations&amp;quot; that act as never-taxed income holes, and then use them as personal and political tools.&lt;p&gt;In total, there&amp;#x27;s nothing very revealing about this article.  It&amp;#x27;s everything we&amp;#x27;ve already known.  IMO, we need to curb foreign tax havens, and severely limit tax exemptions for charitable donations.&lt;p&gt;A more interesting question is how did ProPublica get a copy of Jeff Bezos&amp;#x27; tax returns.  Seems like a leak at the IRS?</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>mc32</author><text>It’s still not acceptable.  At least the tax minimizer is following applicable laws, this vigilante is not.&lt;p&gt;They are taking it upon themselves outside the law to settle disagreements, but they want to leverage new laws to make taxes more aligned with their policy (but obviously they are okay with ignoring other parts of the law —that’s a disconnect).</text></comment>