Won't he get a rather large refund next year?
I have a plan to avoid death taxes as well....
I'm not going to die.
Billionaire gives to billionaire and they call it charity.
A man whose legacy is destined to be as boring as his invstment style...
I love it when the liberals big supporters turn out to be hypocrits. I applaud Gates and Buffet for their philanthropy. Im also happy to see them stick it to the feds.
Does the Gates Foundation fund abortion or "reproductive health"?
Someone ought to do an expose on how Warren managed to avoid paying income taxes -- like a good rich DemonRAT -- while insisting people in the middle class get soaked.
Some would see this as an argument for the estate tax, in that it incentives this type of philanthropy.
What gets me about these guys is how they are giving this money away to "fight AIDS, fight poverty, fight this fight that etc ec etc.." Why don`t they try promoting instead? This thing called Democracy? It`s not perfect, but teach a man to fish....If done right, it can kill off the corruption that kills democracy in the first place, and it would be cheaper... Create incentives...A million here a million there if you hold regular non interfered elections.
Look at Mexico, this is a country that has every possibility in the world to become a major world power, but the corruption is completely out of control it will never happen. You can`t even call the police without making some pay-offs. WHo is allowing this? Vincente...Vote the bitch OUT, get this moron the hell out of office! Donate a few million to the campaign of a guy who won`t allow that. If he sits on his ass and lets himself be bought off, do it again with a new guy and again and again... To just throw billions though at these charities is insane. Look at the US, we couldn`t even get the 911 money to the families. F- charities. No middle man, get the great leaders into position first, ensure that happens.
The idea for a foundation like this is that the heirs get to keep the investment interest and profits while being required by law to donate 5% of the foundation's assets to some bonafide charity.
But this fellow has about spent the whole wad on his "scientific" vacations. LOL!!
I know another well-off fellow whose wife set up another "educational" foundation, and has used about half-a-million of it over the years to buy her camera equipment so she can make "documentaries" that nobody watches.
A lot of these foundations are ways to donate money to yourself and not only take the charitable deduction--but to style yourself as a bighearted philanthropist.
Here is the list of companies Berkshire Hathaway owns outright and the companies he has a substantial holidings in:
http://www.buffettsecrets.com/berkshire-hathaway-holdings.htm
Can't take it with you....
At least he didn't give it to Move-On.com or the Brady foundation.
Looks like the "Poor" are gonna get a lot of new opera houses and museums, don't it Monica?
The guy who is REALLY avoiding the estate taxes is the senior Sinator from Taxachusetts. As a part of Joe Kennedy's reign as the chief bootlegger of Scotch into the U.S. during Prohibition, old Joe got a written deal with the main Scotch suppliers for a percentage "in perpetuity." The meaning of that phrase is huge. So long as there is a Kennedy heir, Chivas, et. al. will pay that family a royalty.
Now as to the senior Sinator from Taxachusetts. He votes on the death tax for you and me. He, however, has "spirited" all his money to the island nation of Fiji where U.S. Estate taxes do not apply. Last I heard, he has 650 Million dollars there.
If he's for it, he should have kept his wampum.
He is passing money on to a charity that does good for the public in their own way and the government declared them tax free.
He will still leave money for taxation in his estate.
He thinks what Gates has is good.
He could have started his own foundation to avoid taxes but anything that is a charity has to do good for others and disperse a certain amount of money a year out of the foundation or trust by law to remain a charity.
Ask Gordon Freeman what HE thinks of our Benefactors. :P
*hits random things with a crowbar*