I don't blame him after what happened in New Jersey.
Actually, what happened?
Mark Zuckerberg’s Philanthropy Uses L.L.C. For More Control
21–30 of 118 posts
Re: Mark Zuckerberg’s Philanthropy Uses L.L.C. For More Control
#22I don't know Mark and can't comment on his essay or this article.
I can, however, note that on at least 3 different occasions in the last year or so I've read a heartfelt essay on somebody making sacrifices for the common good -- only to later realize they were just setting up a tax dodge.
I do not think these things are mutually exclusive. You can both work for the common good while trying to legally avoid paying taxes. Heck, I'd rather smart people actively and passionately manage their money for the greater good, especially people with a track record of doing great things. More power to them. But I can relate that as a reader, once I finally figured it out what was going on, I was very disappointed. It was not a pleasant experience.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg’s Philanthropy Uses L.L.C. For More Control
#23I don't blame him after what happened in New Jersey.
What exactly happened? From what I hear the money wasn't misused, it just didn't fix things.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg’s Philanthropy Uses L.L.C. For More Control
#24By putting money in the LLC he can avoid estate taxes and still give his family control if he wants. >To sum up, his money is not going to a charity, but to his own LLC, which will let him evade tax by moving his private assets into a foundation. >Unlike a charitable trust, which is compelled to spend its money on charity, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, LLC will be able to spend its money on whatever it wants, including…
So all one needs to do to avoid estate taxes is put the money in an LLC, and then transfer ownership of the LLC after death? That sounds absurd! Given that it takes some few thousand to create an LLC, any rich person can avoid tax this way!
Maybe check to see if it actually works that way before getting too excited about it.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg’s Philanthropy Uses L.L.C. For More Control
#25I thought it was impossible to donate money (in a tax deductible manner) if you the donor had any direct control of how the money was spent. This was supposed to prevent folks from, say, donating their money to a charity which then sends their own child to college.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg’s Philanthropy Uses L.L.C. For More Control
#26By putting money in the LLC he can avoid estate taxes and still give his family control if he wants. >To sum up, his money is not going to a charity, but to his own LLC, which will let him evade tax by moving his private assets into a foundation. >Unlike a charitable trust, which is compelled to spend its money on charity, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, LLC will be able to spend its money on whatever it wants, including…
I don't see how this is a problem. He's following the law and organizing his affairs to retain control of the money he earned. You aren't less of a citizen because you try to not pay more tax than you owe. The exemptions for certain types of income are put there because the legislature wants to promote certain activities as beneficial to the public good. Charitable Remainder Trusts are one of those things written int…
It's a big problem. Maybe not Zuck's application of it, but other applications of this dodge. I think he's a good guy, and that good thing he's doing exposes some of the lesser known tools used by not-so-great folks.
You can easily use this sort of operation to launder money for the purposes of doing all sorts of things. Transfer your money to an LLC, get a web of LLCs or shelf corporations and "sell" valuable services between them.
If you're a scumbag, in addition to saving on taxes, you can avoid accountability for nasty practices. Slumlords are a great example... many control swaths of cities and use anonymity to hide that fact. So they can do stuff like rig the "prevailing rent" in a area to extract higher public assistance reimbursements, discriminate against people, buy off politicians by giving them sweetheart deals on real estate, etc.
If you're a not so philantrophic rich dude, you can also do shady Koch-brothers style political bribery or establish a presence in South Dakota to exploit loopholes that will leave your family without any tax obligation for several generations. If you're real clever, you use the shady political stuff to create more loopholes for yourself.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg’s Philanthropy Uses L.L.C. For More Control
#27By putting money in the LLC he can avoid estate taxes and still give his family control if he wants. >To sum up, his money is not going to a charity, but to his own LLC, which will let him evade tax by moving his private assets into a foundation. >Unlike a charitable trust, which is compelled to spend its money on charity, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, LLC will be able to spend its money on whatever it wants, including…
>Unlike a charitable trust, which is compelled to spend its money on charity, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, LLC will be able to spend its money on whatever it wants, including private, profit-generating investment.
Setting up a charitable trust means Zuckerberg could spend the money charitably.
Setting up an LLP means Zuckerberg can spend the money charitably, and invest in companies that are going good things even if they're doing it for a profit.
That latter case is better. It doesn't mean the trust is there to make a profit; it's just a move that gives Zuckerberg more options.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg’s Philanthropy Uses L.L.C. For More Control
#28Its sad to see how these comments are going focus on this being a tax dodge. He is doing SOMETHING with 99% of his money for the greater good.
The point many people are making is that he so far is just reorganizing the way his money is held. Also, it's just an announced intention. And putting the money into the LLC isn't actually doing anything for the greater good.
I tend to believe that he will end up using the new financial structure to do things that are for the greater good, but he hasn't yet.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg’s Philanthropy Uses L.L.C. For More Control
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
In some ways, yeah, but viewed in another light, it's sad to see the tax code so ridiculously complex and catering to the rich that a guy like Zuckerberg or Romney can effectively pay a lower tax rate on investments than a working-class citizen would pay on their direct wages. Sometimes there needs to be a 'poster child' to focus on as an example of when even doing something admirable leaves a bad taste in the mouths…
Regular working class citizens can also pay lower taxes on their investments than on their own labor.
Regular working class citizens don't have investments for the most part.
Re: Mark Zuckerberg’s Philanthropy Uses L.L.C. For More Control
#30Its sad to see how these comments are going focus on this being a tax dodge. He is doing SOMETHING with 99% of his money for the greater good.
In some ways, yeah, but viewed in another light, it's sad to see the tax code so ridiculously complex and catering to the rich that a guy like Zuckerberg or Romney can effectively pay a lower tax rate on investments than a working-class citizen would pay on their direct wages. Sometimes there needs to be a 'poster child' to focus on as an example of when even doing something admirable leaves a bad taste in the mouths…
When your tax dollars are used the bomb the middle east to pieces is it any surprise people want to pay less taxes?