Thursday, August 23, 2012

Should We Elect a Man Who Does Not Pay Income Tax

Of course, not. Check out this link:

http://news.yahoo.com/bain-documents-romney-offshore-investments-used-blockers-avoid-185957445--abc-news-topstories.html

Bain Documents: Romney Offshore Investments Used 'Blockers' To Avoid Taxes

By MATTHEW MOSK and EMILY FRIEDMAN
ABC News

....The private equity firm founded by Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney made use of arcane techniques in several of its Cayman Islands-based funds to avoid U.S. taxes, according to a trove of Bain Capital's private audit and finance records made public on the website Gawker today.

The audited financial statements of one of the Cayman Islands funds make note of the use of "blocker" entities, which are used to help retirement accounts and nonprofit entities avoid some taxes. Financial statements for another fund note that it "intends to conduct its operations so it will … not be subject to United States federal income or withholding tax ..."

The newly released documents rekindle questions about one of the more technical tax questions that has emerged about Romney's investments – the use of so-called "blocker" entities. The blocker is a paper company that serves as a buffer between the investor and the fund holding the investments, Wilkins explained. That means the investment income can be counted as a dividend and in some cases avoid income tax.

In the financials for the Bain Capital Asia Fund, for instance, the audit describes the establishment of blocker corporations to hold more than $92 million in contributions from the fund.

Some experts have pointed to the blockers to help explain how Romney has been able to amass between $20.7 million and $101.6 million in a tax-free IRA, many times more than the typical amount an IRA can hold. Romney has not responded to questions about his IRA.






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