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Did you read the article? He's given away everything and the Foundation is disbanding.

dragonbonheur 9y ago
Yup. Still not impressed. Him having to go to the Bahamas to sign everything away means he profited a lot from tax "optimization". Clear enough?
- EggsOnToast 9y ago
  Do you have any basis for that belief? It seems equally plausible that he wanted as much as possible going to the foundation in order to optimize its philanthropic potential.
  - dragonbonheur 9y ago
    Basis one, served: https://www.economist.com/node/9903943 https://www.economist.com/node/9903943 Bases N, served. https://www.google.com/search?q=chuck+feeney+tax+evasion https://www.google.com/search?q=chuck+feeney+tax+evasion Peruse at leisure.
    - nothrabannosir 9y ago
      I feel like you’re trying to equate avoiding taxes with self enrichment. That’s true if you avoid taxes to then keep the money. But if you avoid taxes by giving everything to charity, that’s not avoiding taxes anymore: those are deductibles for a reason! The question is: did he end up keeping more money now, than he would have, had he just kept everything and paid the due taxes? The article seems to suggest that, no, he didn’t. > “Chuck hates taxes. He believes people can do more with money than governments can,” Yeah, join the club.
      - dragonbonheur 9y ago
        For a long time he withheld taxation money that could have gone to education and infrastructure. The fact that he gave money away when it was most convenient to him WHILE NORMAL PEOPLE HAD TO PAY EVERY TIME, ON TIME, does not excuse his despicable behavior.
        dang 9y ago
        Please don't use uppercase for emphasis in HN comments. It's basically yelling, and the site guidelines ask you not to. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
        Chriky 9y ago
        That's kind of like saying taking a pay cut or working part time is tax avoidance. "Normal people" can also avoid taxes by giving their income to charity if they want. From reading your posts it seems like you jumped to a conclusion without understanding the situation.
        dragonbonheur 9y ago
        Except that I never said taking a pay cut or working part time were tax avoidance. Also, normal people don't usually set up tax-exempt foundations that hire them as "board members" to "give their money away".
- capsulecorp 9y ago
  No its not clear enough actually, the tax benefits could have also been passed on, so please provide supporting evidence of his personal profit. Otherwise we can continue to assume you are a paranoid skeptic.
  - dragonbonheur 9y ago
    Boo-effin-Ya... https://www.economist.com/node/9903943 https://www.economist.com/node/9903943 " Tax avoidance is the flip side to Mr Feeney's philanthropic coin. He is addicted to it. “Chuck hates taxes. He believes people can do more with money than governments can,” says a friend. In 1964 a young New York lawyer, Harvey Dale, told Mr Feeney that changes in the tax laws threatened his business, which was running risks that could put the founders in jail. On his advice, Mr Feeney and his co-founder, Robert Miller, transferred ownership to their foreign-born wives, from France and Ecuador, respectively. In 1974, through a deal with the American government, the firm turned the Pacific island of Saipan into a tax haven. Then, in 1978, Mr Feeney grouped his various investments, including his shares of DFS, in a holding company, General Atlantic Group Limited, in tax-free Bermuda. To escape the American taxman, everything was still registered in his wife's name. " Also, who's "we"? Now I'll have to assume that you are a narcissistic psychopath. But let's keep these assumptions on the low-down, as ad-hominem attacks are quite pooh-pooh'd upon in these strange parts.
    - codecamper 9y ago
      Maybe he didn't want his money going to buy more cluster munitions, depleted uranium bombs, clean water act rollbacks, napalms, etc etc? I hate taxes as well & under our current "leaders"... seeing that they are putting the entire economy at risk with their military over spending... then I would love to figure out how to maximally avoid taxes as well.
      - dragonbonheur 9y ago
        Avoiding taxes does not lead to less military spending. Amazon and GE usually pay less federal taxes than the average US citizen but have plenty of lobbyists shoving money into politicians' pockets, just like most defense contractors. You're better off fighting the influence of money in politics if you want your taxes to be well spent www.wolf-pac.com
- bedhead 9y ago
  I swear that someone could cure cancer and there would be some asshole on the internet who would find a reason to shit all over that person.

Yup. Still not impressed. Him having to go to the Bahamas to sign everything away means he profited a lot from tax "optimization". Clear enough?

EggsOnToast 9y ago
Do you have any basis for that belief? It seems equally plausible that he wanted as much as possible going to the foundation in order to optimize its philanthropic potential.
- dragonbonheur 9y ago
  Basis one, served: https://www.economist.com/node/9903943 https://www.economist.com/node/9903943 Bases N, served. https://www.google.com/search?q=chuck+feeney+tax+evasion https://www.google.com/search?q=chuck+feeney+tax+evasion Peruse at leisure.
  - nothrabannosir 9y ago
    I feel like you’re trying to equate avoiding taxes with self enrichment. That’s true if you avoid taxes to then keep the money. But if you avoid taxes by giving everything to charity, that’s not avoiding taxes anymore: those are deductibles for a reason! The question is: did he end up keeping more money now, than he would have, had he just kept everything and paid the due taxes? The article seems to suggest that, no, he didn’t. > “Chuck hates taxes. He believes people can do more with money than governments can,” Yeah, join the club.
    - dragonbonheur 9y ago
      For a long time he withheld taxation money that could have gone to education and infrastructure. The fact that he gave money away when it was most convenient to him WHILE NORMAL PEOPLE HAD TO PAY EVERY TIME, ON TIME, does not excuse his despicable behavior.
      - dang 9y ago
        Please don't use uppercase for emphasis in HN comments. It's basically yelling, and the site guidelines ask you not to. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
      - Chriky 9y ago
        That's kind of like saying taking a pay cut or working part time is tax avoidance. "Normal people" can also avoid taxes by giving their income to charity if they want. From reading your posts it seems like you jumped to a conclusion without understanding the situation.
        dragonbonheur 9y ago
        Except that I never said taking a pay cut or working part time were tax avoidance. Also, normal people don't usually set up tax-exempt foundations that hire them as "board members" to "give their money away".
capsulecorp 9y ago
No its not clear enough actually, the tax benefits could have also been passed on, so please provide supporting evidence of his personal profit. Otherwise we can continue to assume you are a paranoid skeptic.
- dragonbonheur 9y ago
  Boo-effin-Ya... https://www.economist.com/node/9903943 https://www.economist.com/node/9903943 " Tax avoidance is the flip side to Mr Feeney's philanthropic coin. He is addicted to it. “Chuck hates taxes. He believes people can do more with money than governments can,” says a friend. In 1964 a young New York lawyer, Harvey Dale, told Mr Feeney that changes in the tax laws threatened his business, which was running risks that could put the founders in jail. On his advice, Mr Feeney and his co-founder, Robert Miller, transferred ownership to their foreign-born wives, from France and Ecuador, respectively. In 1974, through a deal with the American government, the firm turned the Pacific island of Saipan into a tax haven. Then, in 1978, Mr Feeney grouped his various investments, including his shares of DFS, in a holding company, General Atlantic Group Limited, in tax-free Bermuda. To escape the American taxman, everything was still registered in his wife's name. " Also, who's "we"? Now I'll have to assume that you are a narcissistic psychopath. But let's keep these assumptions on the low-down, as ad-hominem attacks are quite pooh-pooh'd upon in these strange parts.
  - codecamper 9y ago
    Maybe he didn't want his money going to buy more cluster munitions, depleted uranium bombs, clean water act rollbacks, napalms, etc etc? I hate taxes as well & under our current "leaders"... seeing that they are putting the entire economy at risk with their military over spending... then I would love to figure out how to maximally avoid taxes as well.
    - dragonbonheur 9y ago
      Avoiding taxes does not lead to less military spending. Amazon and GE usually pay less federal taxes than the average US citizen but have plenty of lobbyists shoving money into politicians' pockets, just like most defense contractors. You're better off fighting the influence of money in politics if you want your taxes to be well spent www.wolf-pac.com
bedhead 9y ago
I swear that someone could cure cancer and there would be some asshole on the internet who would find a reason to shit all over that person.