It's hard work to make it on a Million dollars these days. $1,000,000.00 doesn't go as far as it used to, you know.
They have it rough, what with having to choose between so many Tax Avoidance Strategies.
What is a 'poor' Millionaire, to do?
How to Pay No Taxes: 10 Strategies Used by the Rich
by Jesse Drucker, businessweek.com -- April 17, 2012
[...]
For the 400 U.S. taxpayers with the highest adjusted gross income, the effective federal income tax rate -- what they actually pay -- fell from almost 30 percent in 1995 to just over 18 percent in 2008, according to the Internal Revenue Service. And for the approximately 1.4 million people who make up the top 1 percent of taxpayers, the effective federal income tax rate dropped from 29 percent to 23 percent in 2008. It may seem too fantastic to be true, but the top 400 end up paying a lower rate than the next 1,399,600 or so.
[...]
The true effective rate for multimillionaires is actually far lower than that indicated by official government statistics. That’s because those figures fail to include the additional income that’s generated by many sophisticated tax-avoidance strategies. Several of those techniques involve some variation of complicated borrowings that never get repaid, netting the beneficiaries hundreds of millions in tax-free cash.
[...]
But don't you know, if we raise their Taxes --
we are 'forcing them' to choose one of these Tax-avoidance strategies.
Don't blame the Millionaires -- we make them do this ... (er, ah "let them" ...)
How The Super Rich Avoid Paying Taxes
topaccountingdegrees.org
If you're one of the 1% of Americans who control over 40% of the country's wealth, life is full of choices. Among them -- how best to keep all that money away from the government? The U.S. economic system offers no shortage of loopholes allowing the ultra-rich to shortchange Uncle Sam.
[...]
1. Put It in the Freezer
2. Send It Overseas
3. Stock It Up in Options
4. Play Shell Games with It
5. Swap It Out
6. Play Dodgeball with It
7. Go Corporate with It
8. Kick It Down the Road
9. Give It Away
10. Make It Luxurious
{For the dirty details on their customized Tax Tricks, just click the links.}
And if those Tax-avoidance tricks for the super-rich, weren't enough,
Here are a few more (they hope we never catch wind of) ...
10 Accounting Tricks the 1% Use to Dodge the Taxman
by Dee Barizo, accounting-degree.org
[...]
Hold onto your purse strings as we list the 10 dirtiest accounting tricks the rich use to keep their cash.
10. Tax Havens
9. Shell Companies
8. Equity Swaps
7. Avoiding Capital Gains Tax
6. Evading the Estate Tax
5. Shell Trust Funds
4. Incorporating
3. Payments in Kind
2. Life-Insurance Borrowing
1. Real Estate Borrowing
No wonder Congress is always looking to give the 'poor' Millionaires --
EVEN MORE Tax Breaks.
It's kind of like, they're are looking in some sort of mirror or something:
Say Hello to the Millionaires Club, that Works for you
by jamess -- Mon Aug 30, 2010
Here's looking out for YOU, kids.
Something about something "trickling down" somewhere ... IF only we just give it MORE time.