Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #secretirsfiles
Most recents (11)
1/ NEW from the #SecretIRSFiles: It’s the Mystery of Jeff Yass.
He’s a huge Wall Street player.
He’s a billionaire many times over.
He’s a major GOP donor.
That’s not the mystery.
He’s a huge Wall Street player.
He’s a billionaire many times over.
He’s a major GOP donor.
That’s not the mystery.
2/ The mystery is his tax rate.
It’s been extremely low in recent years: 19%
It's much lower than his Wall Street peers like Ken Griffin.
That’s saved Yass a cool $1 billion.
And it gets odder.
It’s been extremely low in recent years: 19%
It's much lower than his Wall Street peers like Ken Griffin.
That’s saved Yass a cool $1 billion.
And it gets odder.
3/ Yass runs a Philly firm called Susquehanna that mainly trades in the very short term.
Gains from those trades normally are taxed at around 40%.
So how does Yass get his tax rate to half of that?
Well, he & his partners declined to speak w/ us or answer any questions.
Gains from those trades normally are taxed at around 40%.
So how does Yass get his tax rate to half of that?
Well, he & his partners declined to speak w/ us or answer any questions.
Meet Phyllis Taylor. She’s a big New Orleanian billionaire philanthropist.
A friend called her a “Gentle Dove.” She also likes hunting, and shot this leopard in Zambia:
A friend called her a “Gentle Dove.” She also likes hunting, and shot this leopard in Zambia:
Early on when @paulkiel & @jeffernsthausen & I dove into the #SecretIRSFiles, Phyllis Taylor stood out.
Her taxes are mind-boggling. It shows her losing on the order of $350 million--every year.
She hadn’t paid federal income taxes for years and years.
How was that possible?
Her taxes are mind-boggling. It shows her losing on the order of $350 million--every year.
She hadn’t paid federal income taxes for years and years.
How was that possible?
We dove in.
Turns out she owns an oil exploration company called Taylor Energy. It made her, at one point, the richest woman in Louisiana.
And that company is responsible for the longest-running, and maybe the largest, oil spill ever in the U.S.
Turns out she owns an oil exploration company called Taylor Energy. It made her, at one point, the richest woman in Louisiana.
And that company is responsible for the longest-running, and maybe the largest, oil spill ever in the U.S.
NEW: How billionaires slash their taxes--and have fun doing it!
Hobbies & passion projects all provide losses that allow some to not pay fedl income taxes for more than a decade.
Next in our #SecretIRSFiles from @PAUKIEL, me & @JeffErnsthausen:
propublica.org/article/when-y…
Hobbies & passion projects all provide losses that allow some to not pay fedl income taxes for more than a decade.
Next in our #SecretIRSFiles from @PAUKIEL, me & @JeffErnsthausen:
propublica.org/article/when-y…
Did you know that the Kentucky Derby is heavily underwritten by taxpayers?
Yep. We’re subsidizing the pleasure of the superrich:
Yep. We’re subsidizing the pleasure of the superrich:
This one’s got a lot: The Beanie Baby guy, the owner of the LATimes, the Reebok guy, a Campbell Soup heiress.
Perhaps my fave: A guy who retired to live in, as he joked, N-one-four-four-kilo-kilo,” the tail numbers of his Gulfstream. (Yes, that was a writeoff.)
Perhaps my fave: A guy who retired to live in, as he joked, N-one-four-four-kilo-kilo,” the tail numbers of his Gulfstream. (Yes, that was a writeoff.)
NEW: Some billionaires tell the IRS they lose money every year.
In real life they make tons of money.
The next big installment of the #SecretIRSFiles, from @JeffErnsthausen, @paulkiel, & me: propublica.org/article/these-…
In real life they make tons of money.
The next big installment of the #SecretIRSFiles, from @JeffErnsthausen, @paulkiel, & me: propublica.org/article/these-…
They offset that tons of $$ w/ big deductions & go years w/out paying taxes. Today's story is on real estate & fossil fuel tycoons:
-Stephen Ross, (Hudson Yards)
-Kelcy Warren, (Dakota Access Pipeline)
-Charles Kushner (Jared’s dad)
&
-Trump (yeah we got his taxes)
-Stephen Ross, (Hudson Yards)
-Kelcy Warren, (Dakota Access Pipeline)
-Charles Kushner (Jared’s dad)
&
-Trump (yeah we got his taxes)
How do these titans manage this feat?
If you’re rich, the tax code lets you do it.
If you’re rich, the tax code lets you do it.
The received wisdom among economists is that the US's historical low interests rates are driven by high savings by aging boomers who are getting ready for, or in, retirement.
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The idea is boomers have salted away so much cash that banks don't bid for their savings, so interest rates fall.
But at last week's Jackson Hole conference, a trio of economists presented a very different explanation for low interest, one that better fits the facts.
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But at last week's Jackson Hole conference, a trio of economists presented a very different explanation for low interest, one that better fits the facts.
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In their @nberpubs paper "What explains the decline in r∗? Rising income inequality versus demographic shifts," @AtifRMian (Princeton), @ludwigstraub (Harvard), and @profsufi (Chicago) show how inequality, not demographics, is to blame for low rates.
kansascityfed.org/documents/8337…
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kansascityfed.org/documents/8337…
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The latest in @propublica's #SecretIRSFiles reporting is a crossover episode, combining leaked tax-returns of America's ultrawealthy with campaign contribution data to reveal the incredible return on investment the rich reaped from Trump's #TaxScam.
propublica.org/article/secret…
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propublica.org/article/secret…
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If you'd like an unrolled version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2021/08/11/the…
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pluralistic.net/2021/08/11/the…
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You may remember how Trump's "Tax Cuts and Jobs Act" (AKA the "big, beautiful tax-cut") was a shambles of amendments and annotations, whose final draft was literally covered in hand-scribbled changes that handed millions to donors.
usatoday.com/story/news/201…
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usatoday.com/story/news/201…
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This summer started with a bang, with @Propublica's #SecretIRSFiles leaks - a massive data-set detailing the tax-evasion strategies of the rich, confirming F Scott Fitzgerald's maxim that "they are different from you and me" (We pay tax. They don't).
pluralistic.net/2021/06/08/leo…
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pluralistic.net/2021/06/08/leo…
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If you'd like an unrolled version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2021/08/03/fit…
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pluralistic.net/2021/08/03/fit…
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When you are very rich, you can borrow money at interest rates that are next to zero; you can also take your income in stock, rather than cash. Stock is only taxed when you sell it, and then at the lower capital gains rate, because the IRS rewards gambling and punishes work.
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When Microsoft CEO (and Linux archnemesis) @Steven_Ballmer retired and bought the @LAClippers, it was easy to assume that the billionaire was engaged in a jolly or a folly, buying a major league sports team as a folly.
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If you'd like an unrolled version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
pluralistic.net/2021/07/08/tuy…
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pluralistic.net/2021/07/08/tuy…
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But far from it: Ballmer made his bones (and his billions) by cheating - lying about free software; secretly funding absurd, crippling, pretextual lawsuits over GNU/Linux; and leading a vast, corrupt monopoly - and his foray into sports ownership was no different.
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The @propublica #SecretIRSFiles is a large tranche of IRS leaks detailing the tax-structures of the super-wealthy, documenting the ways in which Leona Helmsley was perfectly correct to assert that "taxes are for the little people."
pluralistic.net/2021/06/15/gui…
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pluralistic.net/2021/06/15/gui…
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(If you'd like an unrolled version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:)
pluralistic.net/2021/06/26/wax…
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pluralistic.net/2021/06/26/wax…
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The latest reporting examines the way that Peter Thiel and other billionaires are able to abuse the Roth IRA (a savings vehicle that is only supposed to be used by middle-class people to save modest sums for retirement) to evade taxes on billions..
propublica.org/article/lord-o…
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propublica.org/article/lord-o…
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Some things are hard to understand because they're complicated, but when it comes to finance - and finance crimes - we enter the real of things that are complicated so they'll be hard to understand.
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(If you'd like an unrolled version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:)
pluralistic.net/2021/06/20/la-…
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pluralistic.net/2021/06/20/la-…
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The @Propublica #SecretIRSFiles leaks reveal the wealthy pay infinitesimal amounts of tax and the ultra-rich often pay no tax at all.
Propublica is careful to note that all of this is legal - that it's how the system is supposed to work.
pluralistic.net/2021/06/15/gui…
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Propublica is careful to note that all of this is legal - that it's how the system is supposed to work.
pluralistic.net/2021/06/15/gui…
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The biggest news story of the moment @Propublica's reporting on the #SecretIRSFiles, a trove of leaked tax data on the wealthiest people in America that show that they pay effectively no tax, through perfectly legal means.
pluralistic.net/2021/06/15/gui…
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pluralistic.net/2021/06/15/gui…
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The Bootlicker-Industrial Complex has completely missed the point of this reporting and its followup, like the revelation that an ultrarich candidate for Manhattan DA was able to pay no tax in many years where her family booked millions in revenue.
pluralistic.net/2021/06/17/qui…
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pluralistic.net/2021/06/17/qui…
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The apologists for super-rich tax-evaders lean heavily on the fact that America has a tax-code that substantially reduces the spending power (and thus political power) of people who work for a living, while enhancing the wealth of those who own things for a living.
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