HUFFINGTON POST: President Obama’s so-called Buffett Rule is supposed to make certain that top-earning Americans don’t pay taxes at lower rates than their assistants.
But there are still ways for the country’s wealthiest to escape their tax share under the measure, according to Bloomberg. Yes, the new rule would tax millionaires at higher minimum rates of up to 30 percent while eliminating many loopholes. But savvy taxpayers could focus a larger percentage of their portfolios on tax-free investments, such as municipal bonds and employer-based health insurance, neither of which require taxes on subsequent interest. They could also reportedly time the sale of their assets to get bigger tax breaks.
The rule has lately been the focus of lawmakers in Washington. Estimated to generate $47 billion in federal revenue over the course of a decade, it has also become one of the center pieces of Obama’s re-election campaign, cited by the President as a necessary measure to pay off the country’s mounting deficits… (more)
