Word: deductability
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Dwindling Reserves. The prime tar get of the critics is the oil depletion allowance. It permits owners to deduct from their taxable income 271% of the value that each well yields; more over, the deduction can be taken as long as the well produces, even if the original cost of exploration and devel opment has been returned many times over. The allowance was partially responsible for the fact that no taxes at all were paid by 155 U.S. citizens who earned more than...
Under the new plan, tax rules would be relaxed in a couple of areas. The 30% limit on the amount of charitable contributions an individual can deduct from his income in most circumstances would go up to 50%. Tax deductions for moving at the behest of an employer would be substantially liberalized, permitting such costs as house hunting, temporary lodging or breaking a lease to be written off up to a limit of $2,500 per move...
Shifting Depreciation. An increasingly popular stratagem is for companies to reduce the rate at which they write off -that is, deduct from their taxable income-the cost of new facilities. The results can be astonishing. U.S. Steel raised last year's reported profits 59% above what they otherwise would have been, from $159 million to $253 million, largely by switching from rapid to straight-line depreciation of its huge investment in mills and other properties. The change reduced the amount that the company set aside on its books to reflect the degree by which its plant and equipment wore...
...businessmen, high rates distort decisions about how to invest, how to organize a company, how to reward employees. Companies in need of capital get a richer federal tax break when they issue bonds instead of stocks; they can deduct the interest on bonds from their taxable income, but dividends on stocks must be paid out of after-tax profits. This fact has stimulated the growth of conglomerate mergers, which the Government is now vigorously attacking (see following story). It is fairly cheap and easy for one company to finance the takeover of another by issuing interest-bearing securities of dubious...
...would be much better if Congress would clear the slate, start over again and retain only a few basic deductions, probably including: 1) personal exemp tions for individuals, boosting the amount somewhat above the outdated $600 level enacted 21 years ago; 2) charitable contributions, without the appreciated-property loophole; 3) state and local sales and income taxes but not state gasoline taxes; and 4) business expenses, but with tighter controls against abuses. The current law covers a rather liberal range of activities. Last week, for example, Topless Dancer Marlene Sherman of San Francisco proudly announced that the IRS had agreed...