Billionaire George Soros, one of the world’s leading investors, may face a colossal tax bill from the U.S. government.
Using a loophole, Soros deferred taxes on fees paid by clients and reinvested them in his fund, where they continued to grow tax-free and reached $13.3 billion at the end of 2013, Bloomberg said.
Will you offer us a hand? Every gift, regardless of size, fuels our future.
Your critical contribution enables us to maintain our independence from shareholders or wealthy owners, allowing us to keep up reporting without bias. It means we can continue to make Jewish Business News available to everyone.
You can support us for as little as $1 via PayPal at [email protected].
Thank you.
Soros transferred assets to Ireland, which was considered a possible shelter, just before Congress closed the loophole in 2008 and ordered hedge fund managers who used it to pay the accumulated taxes by 2017, according to the report.
Soros, who has a fortune of almost $30 billion, was said to have accumulated the $13.3 billion in deferred fees from hedge fund clients and investment gains on those fees.
Based on the application of a U.S. federal rate of 39.6 percent, combined state and city levies totaling 12 percent, and an additional 3.8 percent tax on investment income to pay for Obamacare, Soros would face a tax bill of $6.7 billion, the report said.
“No person has a constitutional obligation to pay any more taxes than he is required to pay, ” said a tax attorney who represented Soros. If Soros “couldn’t legally do it, he wouldn’t do it, ”