For the Wealthiest, a Private Tax System That Saves Them Billions – The New York Times

 

Captions/Credits: Daniel S. Loeb, shown with his wife, Margaret, runs the $17 billion Third Point hedge fund. Mr. Loeb, who has owned a home in East Hampton, has contributed to Jeb Bush’s super PAC and given $1 million to the American Unity Super PAC, which supports gay rights.Credit Left: Patrick McMullan Company; Right: Doug Kuntz

 

The poor and middle class (what’s left of it) are missing two very important “L” words… lawyers and lobbyists… that’s why the next President of the United States has to be someone who puts their best interest first… Someone like progressive, democratic-socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders, in my book.

The very richest are able to quietly shape tax policy that will allow them to shield billions in income.

Source: For the Wealthiest, a Private Tax System That Saves Them Billions – The New York Times

Here’s an excerpt from the NYT in depth report… try not to throw up on your device’s screen…

“Operating largely out of public view — in tax court, through arcane legislative provisions and in private negotiations with the Internal Revenue Service — the wealthy have used their influence to steadily whittle away at the government’s ability to tax them. The effect has been to create a kind of private tax system, catering to only several thousand Americans.

The impact on their own fortunes has been stark. Two decades ago, when Bill Clinton was elected president, the 400 highest-earning taxpayers in America paid nearly 27 percent of their income in federal taxes, according to I.R.S. data. By 2012, when President Obama was re-elected, that figure had fallen to less than 17 percent, which is just slightly more than the typical family making $100,000 annually, when payroll taxes are included for both groups.

The ultra-wealthy “literally pay millions of dollars for these services,” said Jeffrey A. Winters, a political scientist at Northwestern University who studies economic elites, “and save in the tens or hundreds of millions in taxes.”

Some of the biggest current tax battles are being waged by some of the most generous supporters of 2016 candidates. They include the families of the hedge fund investors Robert Mercer, who gives to Republicans, andJames Simons, who gives to Democrats; as well as the options trader Jeffrey Yass, a libertarian-leaning donor to Republicans.”

For the Wealthiest, a Private Tax System That Saves Them Billions – The New York Times