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Bezos isn't known for being dumb with his money. So, I am curious about his motivation in this case. What is the deep reptilian part of his tycoon brain telling
by balozi 5y ago
Bezos isn't known for being dumb with his money. So, I am curious about his motivation in this case. What is the deep reptilian part of his tycoon brain telling him? Is he buying positive press after yesterday's show? Does he care about the cause? Or is he buying a 1990 Cutlass Supreme from Jones on the down-low?
- tills13 5y agoIt's a tax write-off.
- avalys 5y agoWhat do you imagine that means exactly?
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- woah 5y agoKramer: It's a write off for them. Jerry: How is it a write off? Kramer: They just write it off. Jerry: Write it off of what? Kramer: They just write it off! Jerry: You don't even know what a write off is, do you? Kramer: No. Do you? Jerry: No I don't!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEL65gywwHQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEL65gywwHQ
- throwawayboise 5y agoAh so tempted to post the punch line which is the best part of the bit. But I won't be the spoiler.
- kstrauser 5y agoI'll explain why that comment almost never makes sense. Let's say your tax rate is 50% and your taxable income is $1,000,000, so you'll owe $500,000 in taxes. If you donate $100,000 to charity as a "tax write-off", now your taxable income is only $900,000 and you'll only owe $450,000 in taxes, but you lost $100,000 to save that $50,000. At the end of the day, you'll have $50,000 less than if you didn't donate anything. Before anyone starts with "but what if it drops you into a lower tax bracket!": a) that's not how marginal taxes work, and b) the top tax bracket starts at $518,400 in the US in 2021, and I'm pretty sure Bezos made many times that amount. "It's a tax write-off" doesn't make sense mathematically. It's not a thing. There's not a plausible way where giving away money can improve your bottom line over not giving it away without having tax rates above 100%, which we don't have.
- omegaworks 5y agoBezos' taxable income isn't $1,000,000. Only an idiot billionaire would structure their day to day processes in ways that were taxable. He likely operates like other extremely wealthy people do[1]: take a small salary to cover the interest on extremely low-interest loans made possible with his massive stock holdings as collateral. 1. https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax https://www.propublica.org/article/the-secret-irs-files-trov...
- missedthecue 5y agoYour own article literally says Jeff Bezos paid almost a billion dollars in federal income tax on $4.2 billion in income last year. Nothing about crazy schemes to minimize or offshore tax liability.
- omegaworks 5y ago>In 2007, Jeff Bezos, then a multibillionaire and now the world’s richest man, did not pay a penny in federal income taxes. He achieved the feat again in 2011. From 2014 to 2018 his wealth grew by 99B, and he paid under 1B in taxes. Would love a sub 1% effective tax rate.
- missedthecue 5y agoIt's a real curiosity how not having any income will result in not paying any income tax. Jeff Bezos did not sell any Amazon shares in 2007 or 2011. https://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/1018724-25.htm https://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/1018724-25.htm https://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/1018724-18.htm https://www.secform4.com/insider-trading/1018724-18.htm And a stock you own going up in value is not income. It does not trigger tax liability. If he doesn't sell shares right now, he is simply deferring tax liability to a future date. He is not cheating the tax man. His tax rate is not less than 1%.
- 5y ago
- whymauri 5y agoBezos has been obsessed with space since middle school, he's a huge Star Trek fan and originally wanted to study astrophysics.