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> It's the tax write off for destruction that's fucked up How so? They aren’t selling it. So its value is $0. If the artist burns the painting, its value is $

> It's the tax write off for destruction that's fucked up How so? They aren’t selling it. So its value is $0. If the artist burns the painting, its value is $0. Is it bad because the artist could have sold it and chose not to? And it’s not fraud, because if the studio ever chooses to sell, they will pay taxes on 100% since they already deducted all expenses. I’m not really sure what you’re arguing. What’s the alternative? The IRS forcing you sell at a liquidated value so you only deduct 90% instead of 100%? This seems like a really odd argument.

theshrike79 3y ago
> How so? They aren’t selling it. So its value is $0. If its value is $0, I should be able to buy it for that price.
- prepend 3y ago
  That’s not how private property works. The owner doesn’t have to sell to you. Have you ever had a car totaled? Just because the insurance company salvages your vehicle doesn’t mean you get to buy it for that value.
  - Dylan16807 3y ago
    The company's officers are obligated to be fiscally responsible. If they won't accept half a million dollars for something with negligible value, they're not being responsible.
  - sokoloff 3y ago
    I agree with your first paragraph, but my experience with the second is that I’ve always been offered it at that figure. (The insurance company is negotiating with you to buy the car from you. They may not want to present it in those terms, but that’s what’s going on. You own it; they have an obligation to you; in some cases, it’s advantageous to all sides for the insurance company to buy the wreckage from you. If they think they can get $X for salvage, it’s cheaper and easier to offer it to you for that; it ends storage fees, avoids transport and selling costs, and in most states avoids them paying sales tax to you on the salvage amount.)
    - sahila 3y ago
      Go one step further with the car, you salvage the car, they say it’s worth $100, does the insurance company have to sell it to me if I offer $101?
      - sokoloff 3y ago
        Of course not. That’s implied by my agreement with GP’s first paragraph. Whoever owns private property decides its disposition. Depending on what you mean by “you salvage the car”, either the car was never owned by the insurance (in which case they obviously can’t sell it for any price) or it is owned by them (in which case they still don’t have to sell their private property at all, nor to a $1 over-bidder, and not necessarily to the highest bidder).
  - theshrike79 3y ago
    The thing is that they claim it's value is X to the Tax Man. Then someone says "I want to pay 1.1 * X for that" and they say "it's worth more" - what are the tax implications? The same applies when they claim that X = 0. They're doing a disservice to their shareholders if they won't sell something worthless for money. There's a celebrity president facing the courts for a similar play, the same thing was worthless when having to pay taxes for it and priceless when using it as collateral for a loan =)
  - earthling8118 3y ago
    Someone is saying "the way this works is wrong, it should work differently" and you're responding "that's not how this works" to that. How does that help?
AlbertCory 3y ago
It's not "odd." Anything you build can have a "salvage value." Someone would take it off your hands, be it a building, a car, or a movie. Unless, of course, everyone's unions agreed on destruction, via their contracts.

theshrike79 3y ago

> How so? They aren’t selling it. So its value is $0. If its value is $0, I should be able to buy it for that price.

prepend 3y ago
That’s not how private property works. The owner doesn’t have to sell to you. Have you ever had a car totaled? Just because the insurance company salvages your vehicle doesn’t mean you get to buy it for that value.
- Dylan16807 3y ago
  The company's officers are obligated to be fiscally responsible. If they won't accept half a million dollars for something with negligible value, they're not being responsible.
- sokoloff 3y ago
  I agree with your first paragraph, but my experience with the second is that I’ve always been offered it at that figure. (The insurance company is negotiating with you to buy the car from you. They may not want to present it in those terms, but that’s what’s going on. You own it; they have an obligation to you; in some cases, it’s advantageous to all sides for the insurance company to buy the wreckage from you. If they think they can get $X for salvage, it’s cheaper and easier to offer it to you for that; it ends storage fees, avoids transport and selling costs, and in most states avoids them paying sales tax to you on the salvage amount.)
  - sahila 3y ago
    Go one step further with the car, you salvage the car, they say it’s worth $100, does the insurance company have to sell it to me if I offer $101?
    - sokoloff 3y ago
      Of course not. That’s implied by my agreement with GP’s first paragraph. Whoever owns private property decides its disposition. Depending on what you mean by “you salvage the car”, either the car was never owned by the insurance (in which case they obviously can’t sell it for any price) or it is owned by them (in which case they still don’t have to sell their private property at all, nor to a $1 over-bidder, and not necessarily to the highest bidder).
- theshrike79 3y ago
  The thing is that they claim it's value is X to the Tax Man. Then someone says "I want to pay 1.1 * X for that" and they say "it's worth more" - what are the tax implications? The same applies when they claim that X = 0. They're doing a disservice to their shareholders if they won't sell something worthless for money. There's a celebrity president facing the courts for a similar play, the same thing was worthless when having to pay taxes for it and priceless when using it as collateral for a loan =)
- earthling8118 3y ago
  Someone is saying "the way this works is wrong, it should work differently" and you're responding "that's not how this works" to that. How does that help?

AlbertCory 3y ago

It's not "odd." Anything you build can have a "salvage value." Someone would take it off your hands, be it a building, a car, or a movie. Unless, of course, everyone's unions agreed on destruction, via their contracts.