“Only The Little People Pay Taxes”

by Tony Chavira

Straight outta the LA Times:

To everyone who claims that our wealthiest citizens pay more than their fair share of income taxes and we should cut them a break because they're the ones who, you know, create jobs in our economy, I have four words for you:

Frank and Jamie McCourt.

The McCourts, who own the Los Angeles Dodgers (so she says; he says he's the owner and she's not), jointly pocketed income totaling $108 million from 2004 through 2009, according to documents Jamie McCourt recently filed in the couple's divorce case in Los Angeles Superior Court.

On that sum, they paid zero federal and state income tax. Jamie claims in her papers that the tax breaks will continue this year too.

This reminds of the old line about how true scandal lies not in what's illegal, but what's legal. One way or another, it's an edifying window into the lengths some people will go to avoid paying taxes.

The court papers suggest that the McCourts deliberately structured their business and numerous transactions at least partially to allow them to live tax-free.

The bold emphases are mine.  It's a strange strange thing... having enough money to avoid taxes.  This kind of shamelessness is how we put Leona Helmsley in jail, Frank & Jamie.

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