Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Billionaire Hypocrisy: George Soros May Owe $7 Billion In Taxes
Zero Hedge ^ | 04/30/2015 | Tyler Durden

Posted on 04/30/2015 11:20:23 AM PDT by SeekAndFind

“You support President Obama’s proposal to increase taxes on the wealthy?” That was the question put to George Soros on CNN some three years ago. Here was his answer:

“Yes, very much… the super bubble really resulted in creating a great increase in inequality, and now we have the after effect where you have slow growth, but if you could have better distribution of income, then the average American would actually be better off.”

There’s no question that “everyday Americans” (as a reminder, those are the people Hillary Clinton wants to help by running for president… well, those people and perhaps a few foreign governments and any investment bank who is willing to pay her husband six figures for a speech) would be better off if they got a larger piece of the pie, but as we’ve seen over the past several months, that’s not likely to happen as wage growth declines for the 80% of American workers classified by the BLS as “non-supervisory” even as the country’s supervisors see their pay increase, and as Fed policy continues to inflate the assets most likely to be concentrated in the hands of the wealthy. As this sad reality continues to play itself out destroying the American Middle Class in the process, we wondered if Soros was doing his best to ameliorate the situation by redistributing more of his vast wealth to the very same “average Americans” about which he expressed so much concern in 2012. The short answer: no. 

Via Bloomberg:

George Soros likes to say the rich should pay more taxes. A substantial part of his wealth, though, comes from delaying them. While building a record as one of the world’s greatest investors, the 84-year-old billionaire used a loophole that allowed him to defer taxes on fees paid by clients and reinvest them in his fund, where they continued to grow tax-free. At the end of 2013, Soros—through Soros Fund Management—had amassed $13.3 billion through the use of deferrals, according to Irish regulatory filings by Soros…

 

Congress closed the loophole in 2008 and ordered hedge fund managers who used it to pay the accumulated taxes by 2017. A New York-based money manager such as Soros would be subject to a federal rate of 39.6 percent, combined state and city levies totaling 12 percent, and an additional 3.8 percent tax on investment income to pay for Obamacare, according to Andrew Needham, a tax partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore. Applying those rates to Soros’s deferred income would create a tax bill of $6.7 billion…

 

When Soros founded his firm, nothing in U.S. law prevented money managers from postponing the acceptance of client fees and letting the money remain in their funds, where it could grow untaxed. But doing so wasn’t really an option for funds based in the U.S., because if managers didn’t take the fees, their clients wouldn’t be able to deduct them from their own taxable income.

 

Hedge fund managers could circumvent this obstacle by setting up parallel offshore funds for investors who weren’t subject to U.S. taxes and who therefore didn’t care whether their fund manager deferred taxes on the fees. That way, the fees—typically 2 percent of the amount invested and 20 percent of any profits—plus any investment gains, could grow without being taxed until the managers withdrew the money…

 

A manager with Soros’s track record who started with $12 million from investors, took 20 percent of the profits, and reinvested that money tax-free over 40 years, would end up with $15.9 billion. If that same manager paid federal, state, and local taxes on the fees and related investment gains before reinvesting them, the figure would shrink to $2.4 billion…

Here’s the simple math: 

In the end, it would appear that we simply have yet another case of billionaire hypocrisy: "please raise taxes on all the uber-wealthy... except me."



TOPICS: Business/Economy; Culture/Society; Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2016election; billionaire; clintoncash; clintonfoundation; election2016; georgesoros; hypocrisy; pages; peterschweizer; tax; taxevasion
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-32 next last

1 posted on 04/30/2015 11:20:23 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

is just his way of saying he doesn’t need U.S.


2 posted on 04/30/2015 11:22:22 AM PDT by no-to-illegals (Do what is Right ... Take This Freepathon Over the Top!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Why does he care so much about Americans? I’ll miss him when he drops. /s


3 posted on 04/30/2015 11:22:36 AM PDT by dp0622 (Franky Five Angels: "Look, let's get 'em all -- let's get 'em all now, while we got the muscle.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Isn’t our Lord done with this guy?


4 posted on 04/30/2015 11:22:57 AM PDT by grumpygresh (Democrats & GOPe delenda est. President zero gave us patient zero.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

"..don't worry Georgie, Odungo will pardon you before he leaves what office is left

5 posted on 04/30/2015 11:24:03 AM PDT by Doogle (( USAF.68-73..8th TFW Ubon Thailand..never store a threat you should have eliminated))
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Isn’t he a wanted man in the United Kingdom for being part of a Ponzi scheme that seriously comprised several pension funds there? Well, I guess there are always Stalin’s, Mao’s, and Pol Pot’s crimes in the name of socialism that make him look not so bad by comparison.


6 posted on 04/30/2015 11:25:29 AM PDT by OttawaFreeper ("Keeping your stick down used to be a commandment, but not anymore" Harry Sinden, 1988)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: OttawaFreeper

Thank You Ottawa ... May the softer we walk be the softer we may talk ....


7 posted on 04/30/2015 11:29:17 AM PDT by no-to-illegals (Do what is Right ... Take This Freepathon Over the Top!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

If the right thing happened, and George Soros was sent to jail for unpaid taxes, my guess is he would either choose which jail to stay at and which jailers to bring him his meals. He would attempt to choose his own judges and jury as well. The man is that wealthy and that much a control freak.


8 posted on 04/30/2015 11:30:13 AM PDT by lee martell (The sa)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Doogle

Lover ... Take Point Please ... Am Tired!


9 posted on 04/30/2015 11:30:19 AM PDT by no-to-illegals (Do what is Right ... Take This Freepathon Over the Top!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

To: OttawaFreeper

I meant to say “compromised”.


10 posted on 04/30/2015 11:30:50 AM PDT by OttawaFreeper ("Keeping your stick down used to be a commandment, but not anymore" Harry Sinden, 1988)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: lee martell
If the right thing happened

yep, If the right thing happened the left would recognize democrats as the enemy!

11 posted on 04/30/2015 11:31:47 AM PDT by no-to-illegals (Do what is Right ... Take This Freepathon Over the Top!!!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Seven billion is enough to give every person in America, including the illegals, a $20 note and change.


12 posted on 04/30/2015 11:31:56 AM PDT by Vigilanteman (Obama: Fake black man. Fake Messiah. Fake American. How many fakes can you fit in one Zer0?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Thank you for posting this.


13 posted on 04/30/2015 11:33:00 AM PDT by machogirl
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

TAXES are for the rubes.... normal people...
After all the givernment allows you to keep some of THEIR MONEY...


14 posted on 04/30/2015 11:35:27 AM PDT by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: OttawaFreeper
Don't know about that, but he made his initial fortune by ratting out fellow Jews in the Holocaust and then selling their furnishings.

Pray America is waking

15 posted on 04/30/2015 11:35:51 AM PDT by bray (Cruz to the WH)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

He cannot control the day of his death. Which is soon.


16 posted on 04/30/2015 11:36:15 AM PDT by lurk
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Paying taxes is for other people.


17 posted on 04/30/2015 11:36:44 AM PDT by Blood of Tyrants (True followers of Christ emulate Christ. True followers of Mohammed emulate Mohammed.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

In 2008 someone withdrew 500 Billion from the Money Markets within the space of two hours, this precipitated the financial crash.
Nobody knows who did it.
I have some suspicions.


18 posted on 04/30/2015 11:46:11 AM PDT by Darksheare (Those who support liberal "Republicans" summarily support every action by same.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SeekAndFind

Wealthy islamidemocommucrats exempted from taxes. Fully endorsed by Congress. Don’t you know that?


19 posted on 04/30/2015 11:46:26 AM PDT by onedoug
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: bray

Don’t know about that, but he made his initial fortune by ratting out fellow Jews in the Holocaust and then selling their furnishings.

Yep. And his uncle said if he didn’t do it someone else would. Soros said he has no regrets. Disgusting inside and out.


20 posted on 04/30/2015 11:48:54 AM PDT by Bitsy
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-32 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson