Some Tax News - Posted by MichaelR (NoVA)
Posted by MichaelR (NoVA) on January 29, 1999 at 09:44:50:
Hey everyone,
I’m not sure of how much interest this will be, but I thought it relevant - especially for those of us putting any kind of asset protection plan into action.
>>> Quote… (complete article follows…)
People familiar with the administration’s plans told the paper the proposal would deny tax benefits for certain transactions deemed to have been conducted mainly to lower a company’s tax bill rather than for broader business purposes.
<<< End Quote…
This passage seems to sum it up, which leads me to questions about whether the “artful” use of Nevada corporations (for example the type of structuring that Laughlin has been advocating for years) will be tightened. I’ve heard a good deal of speculation on Nevada relaxing their lax, pro-privacy laws…and would love to get opinions from anyone using such a structure.
Ummm…at the risk of turning this political…yet another example of the idiocy of a certain party. Especially considering that the putz advocating this made use of questionable tax shelters to finance his campaigns.
Michael
** For Education Purposes Only **
Clinton Seeks Crackdown On Tax Shelters
Reuters/WSJ
Friday January 29 6:15 AM ET
The Clinton administration will launch a campaign to crack down on corporate tax shelters as part of the president’s budget proposal Monday, the Wall Street Journal said Friday.
The administration expects the crackdown to raise at least $600 million in new revenues over the next five years, the Journal reported.
The Treasury Department wants to stop companies from creating complex transactions designed to minimize tax payments, the paper said. It also wants to raise the penalty for companies that use inappropriate tax-avoidance schemes, among other punishments.
People familiar with the administration’s plans told the paper the proposal would deny tax benefits for certain transactions deemed to have been conducted mainly to lower a company’s tax bill rather than for broader business purposes.
These people did not specify the transactions, the paper said.
Clinton will also propose an increase in the substantial underpayment penalty for corporate tax shelters,'' according to a draft of the budget document, the Journal reported. And the plan would also deny deductions for certain tax advice’’ as well as ``impose excise taxes’’ on certain tax-avoidance schemes.
Another anti-tax-shelter proposal would raise $300 million by ``generally precluding taxpayers from taking a tax position inconsistent with the form of their transactions,‘’ the paper said. Some companies, for example, will go through complex accounting tricks to make a loan look like a special kind of stock purchase that carries big tax advantages.
In addition, the White House will include a range of provisions to eliminate'' what it calls unwarranted benefits’’ in the tax code. A big target will be the insurance industry, including tightening limits on insurers’ ability to write off the costs of writing policies – that would raise about $4 billion over five years, the paper said.