“This is very wrong. They are targeting specific individuals, after the fact, for something lawfully given.”
I disagree... Tax laws are almost always retroactive. Just because something is lawfully given doesn’t mean it cant be lawfully taxed. People who effectively bankrupted the company should not be compensated for it at the taxpayer’s expense.
No, it is only rarely that tax laws are retroactive. They usually take effect AFTER signing and apply to taxable events occurring AFTER that date.
AIG is not practicing sound business practices—that’s why they needed a bailout. Their contracts need to be recongnized, but couldn’t they decide to pay out a whole lot less?
Your tax for 2008 will be 90%. There...how does it sound to you? You won’t even have enough left over to pay your state or local taxes.
This is evil on so many levels,
1. Congress wrote the bonus exemption into the original package.
2. Now they want to take it away with a tax. A tax ex post facto as a punishment to people who worked hard to minimize the total losses.
3. A tax at 90%!
4. And as Sherman pointed out...their coming back next week with further legislation in regards to bonus, commission, even employee of the week taxation. More than the already confiscatory 35% they get.
The facts are that these bonuses were set up in a department unrelated to the credit default swaps group that took AIG under. The people who were getting ready to leave when AIG went under were asked to stay in this other trading department to close out positions without losing money in the process....those that stayed and ‘saved AIG’s butt’ were given ‘retention contract payments’ that Congresscritters are calling bonuses. ie, after these good samaritans saved the world financial system from itself they are being attacked by a class envy strawman (not the facts). The ‘hanging mob’ is alive and well in Congress, hoping that the mob keeps it’s eye on AIG and doesn’t notice them.