If you earn a billion dollars a year, do you get your own tax exemption? Take a guess.

[kpete]

Happy tax day. Here's why do the richest 1% pay a much lower tax rate than the rest, and what can you do about it:

https://www.facebook.com/RBReich


The Hedge Fund Managers Tax Break: Because Wall Streeters Want Your Money

This rules your world
This rules your world. Want some? Too bad.

The coming of tax day provides a great opportunity for everyone to focus on their favorite tax break, and there are many from which to choose. However for all the sneaky and squirrelly ways that the rich use to escape their tax liability, none can beat the hedge fund managers’ tax break. This is the way the rich tell the rest of us, because they are rich and powerful, the law doesn’t apply to them.

The hedge fund managers’ tax break, which is also known as the carried interest tax deduction, is different from other tax breaks in that it has no economic rationale. With most other tax breaks there is at least an argument as to how it serves some socially useful purpose. That is not the case with the hedge fund managers’ tax break. This is simply a case where the rich don’t feel like paying taxes and are saying to the rest of us, “what are you going to do about it?”

If their earnings were taxed as normal income they would pay a 39.6 percent tax rate, compared to just a 20 percent capital gains tax rate. For a successful manager earning $10 million, the savings come to $1,960,000. If they earned $100 million, the savings would be equal to $19,600,000.

MORE:
http://www.truth-out.org/opinion/item/23074-the-hedge-fund-managers-tax-break-because-wall-streeters-want-your-money

[PoliticAverse]

1. "How Schumer cut Romney's taxes"

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120123/BLOGS01/301239996/how-schumer-cut-romneys-taxes

[Jefferson23]

2. This is a perfect example of why voting Democratic ticket is not enough..we have to do that but

if we do not address the lobby money, we'll stayed fucked.