Thread: Taxes
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Old 02-01-2012, 06:54 PM   #43
spence
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Quote:
Originally Posted by scottw View Post
And the investors are often pension funds that don’t have to pay tax no matter how much ordinary income they’re given.
You should have put this line in bold as it's the most important one in the entire piece.

So Justplgit's pension gives me 100 dollars to invest, I turn it into 120 dollars through my market savvy, give him his 100 dollars back + some interest we already agreed to. I keep the rest, but since it's all profit it's treated as capital gains...Justplugit's pension pays nothing as pension funds are exempt from taxes.

Now I would think you could argue that the beneficiaries of the pension funds are also getting a tax break...and they are.

I also understand that when you add it all up it doesn't fix the tax revenue problem, and that to change the tax code just a narrow part of the population doesn't make a lot of sense.

But if not technically a loophole it sure does sound like some hedge fund and private equity managers are able to get out of paying A LOT of taxes on what is really income when they whip out the cash for that new Porsche...all for taking risks with other people's money.

-spence
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