Tax AVOIDANCE is perfectly legal. It’s tax EVASION that’s illegal.
Not only is tax avoidance perfectly legal, everyone does it. If you itemize your deductions, you are attempting to minimize your tax liability. You are obligated to pay the taxes that you owe, but not one penny more. The tax code has built in ways to shelter your income. This was written by congressmen and senators with, I would hope, the assumption that they would be used. Bill Clinton avoided taxes. So did Ted Kennedy, and John Kerry and John Edwards - and these guys were FOR higher taxes in principle. But Mitt Romney takes advantage of loopholes and he is the devil incarnate. I don’t want a man who pays more taxes than he is obligated to, to be president. It would be the mark of an idiot.