The cover of the Bloomberg Business Week edition for the week of April 11, 2011 had this title, “How to Pay No Taxes” – 11 shelters, dodges, and rolls, all perfectly legal, used by America's wealthiest people.
A client of ours forwarded the article to me for my review and comment. Only one of the strategies doesn't work (Congress shut it down several years ago – you can ask your tax advisor which one it is – good test for them). The rest of the strategies are common to the advanced tax advisory community. Interesting to me that they made headlines like this.
At ProVision, as well as at many of the other International CPA firms, we have been aware of and using these strategies with our clients for years and years. These are not loopholes. They are intentional tax benefits for business owners and investors. The reason they work for the wealthy is that the reason someone is wealthy is because they are a business owner and investor and have good tax advice.
The great thing about these strategies is that you don't have to be wealthy to use them. You simply have to be a business owner or investor. The challenge is finding a tax advisor who works with less-wealthy individuals and business owners who understand these tax benefits. This is exactly why I created ProVision 16 years ago. So the average entrepreneur and investor could get this level of advice.
Warmest regards,
Tom