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The excuses are at their funniest when the issue is at its most indefensible, such as the proposals to end the carried interest exemption, or the accelerated de

The excuses are at their funniest when the issue is at its most indefensible, such as the proposals to end the carried interest exemption, or the accelerated depreciation of corporate jets.

alushta 13y ago
"Most indefensible"? Really? See the following from the NYTimes article "Capital Gains, Ordinary Income and Shades of Gray": "Consider five examples, and see if you can identify what is ordinary income and what is a capital gain: • Abe buys a vacation home for his family for $800,000. Some years later, when his children have grown and left home, he sells it for $1 million. He makes $200,000. • Bob is a real estate investor. After scouring the market for the best investment opportunities, he buys a house for $800,000 that he believes is undervalued. A few years later, he sells it at $1 million, for a profit of $200,000. • Carl is a real estate investor and a carpenter. He buys a dilapidated house for $800,000. After spending his weekends fixing it up, he sells it a couple of years later for $1 million. Once again, the profit is $200,000. • Dan is a real estate investor and a carpenter, but he is short of capital. He approaches his friend, Ms. Moneybags, and they become partners. Together, they buy a dilapidated house for $800,000 and sell it later for $1 million. She puts up the money, and he spends his weekends fixing up the house. They divide the $200,000 profit equally. • Earl is a carpenter. Ms. Moneybags buys a dilapidated house for $800,000 and hires Earl to fix it up. After paying Earl $100,000 for his services, Ms. Moneybags sells the home for $1 million, for a profit of $100,000. How much capital gains and ordinary income do we attribute to Abe, Bob, Carl, Dan and Earl? (To keep things simple, assume that Ms. Moneybags is untaxed. Think of her as running a pension fund or university endowment.)" As for accelerated depreciation of corporate jets. Are you saying we should not allow accelerated depreciation of corporate assets? Or just corporate jets? I'm sure the Fedex/UPS have some pretty valid reasons to accelerate depreciation on their 747-800s. Oh, you must mean corporate jets like the Bombardier LearJet 85. What if it's used to haul people to remote oil fields, or do you think geologists and oil engineers should only fly commercial? If they charter the jet, why shouldn't the charter company be able to depreciate this asset? You sound like someone who's just complaining about "the rich" without knowing a thing about accounting or taxes. Otherwise you'd have never called these two items "indefensible".

The excuses are at their funniest when the issue is at its most indefensible, such as the proposals to end the carried interest exemption, or the accelerated depreciation of corporate jets.

alushta 13y ago

"Most indefensible"? Really? See the following from the NYTimes article "Capital Gains, Ordinary Income and Shades of Gray": "Consider five examples, and see if you can identify what is ordinary income and what is a capital gain: • Abe buys a vacation home for his family for $800,000. Some years later, when his children have grown and left home, he sells it for $1 million. He makes $200,000. • Bob is a real estate investor. After scouring the market for the best investment opportunities, he buys a house for $800,000 that he believes is undervalued. A few years later, he sells it at $1 million, for a profit of $200,000. • Carl is a real estate investor and a carpenter. He buys a dilapidated house for $800,000. After spending his weekends fixing it up, he sells it a couple of years later for $1 million. Once again, the profit is $200,000. • Dan is a real estate investor and a carpenter, but he is short of capital. He approaches his friend, Ms. Moneybags, and they become partners. Together, they buy a dilapidated house for $800,000 and sell it later for $1 million. She puts up the money, and he spends his weekends fixing up the house. They divide the $200,000 profit equally. • Earl is a carpenter. Ms. Moneybags buys a dilapidated house for $800,000 and hires Earl to fix it up. After paying Earl $100,000 for his services, Ms. Moneybags sells the home for $1 million, for a profit of $100,000. How much capital gains and ordinary income do we attribute to Abe, Bob, Carl, Dan and Earl? (To keep things simple, assume that Ms. Moneybags is untaxed. Think of her as running a pension fund or university endowment.)" As for accelerated depreciation of corporate jets. Are you saying we should not allow accelerated depreciation of corporate assets? Or just corporate jets? I'm sure the Fedex/UPS have some pretty valid reasons to accelerate depreciation on their 747-800s. Oh, you must mean corporate jets like the Bombardier LearJet 85. What if it's used to haul people to remote oil fields, or do you think geologists and oil engineers should only fly commercial? If they charter the jet, why shouldn't the charter company be able to depreciate this asset? You sound like someone who's just complaining about "the rich" without knowing a thing about accounting or taxes. Otherwise you'd have never called these two items "indefensible".