The president and his wife separately gave each daughter a $12,000 gift under a section of the federal tax code that exempts such donations from federal taxes.
There is nothing illegal about the president’s taking advantage of this tax shelter, but it does raise eyebrows given that he has lamented the myriad tax exemptions used by the wealthy—“millionaires and billionaires” like himself—to pay less in taxes. He has yet to propose a comprehensive plan to reform the byzantine tax code.
The Obama’s tax return indicates that the gifts, likely for their daughter’s college educations, began in 2007, when the maximum exemptible amount was $24,000 per couple. The maximum exemption has since increased to $26,000 per couple.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Obama uses kids to tax shelter $48,000
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3 comments:
Him and Michelle? A pundit should know this:
1)A sentence's subject is subjective case
2) "Him" is objective case.
That kind of writing makes everything you say suspect.
This is NOT a deduction!
I’m not an Obama supporter, but this is a misleading statement because it implies to some people that Obama was able to pay less income tax by giving to the kids.
The gifts were given using after-tax dollars, so income tax had already been paid by the Obamas. If they had given larger gifts, the excess above $48k would have been subject to an additional gift tax. All it really does is get it into the children’s name which would save some estate tax when the parents pass away. Income earned on this money will be subject to the kiddie tax (same rate as the parents) until they reach a certain age (19-23 depending on whether they’re in school).
I’ve done this and so did Romney. It’s a non-issue!
This is NOT a deduction!
I’m not an Obama supporter, but this is a misleading statement because it implies to some people that Obama was able to pay less income tax by giving to the kids.
The gifts were given using after-tax dollars, so income tax had already been paid by the Obamas. If they had given larger gifts, the excess above $48k would have been subject to an additional gift tax. All it really does is get it into the children’s name which would save some estate tax when the parents pass away. Income earned on this money will be subject to the kiddie tax (same rate as the parents) until they reach a certain age (19-23 depending on whether they’re in school).
I’ve done this and so did Romney. It’s a non-issue!
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