Tax experts... How can the Walton's inherit....

[Bigmack]

... all that money and not pay giant taxes?

How can they pass it on without paying giant taxes?

Yes.. I know they have tax lawyers and loopholes and all that, but... shit!... $6 Billion is a lot of lettuce to pass on. Can't the rest of the country get some of it back?

A broader question, of course, is why do we call the old lady with the 137 cats crazy, and the old guy with 527 wrecked cars in his field a nutjob, but money-hoarders who couldn't possibly spend a tenth of their money are cultural heros to many?

[PoliticAverse]

1. Apparently Walton used family partnerships and trusts to avoid the inheritance tax issue. n/t

[gopiscrap]

2. that's bullshit and shouldn't be allowed.

[joeglow3]

10. Why?

What if I am 90 and sell a baseball card I had since I was a kid for $1,000 to a 25 year old and pay gains on it? Now, supposed it shoots up in value and is worth $1,000,000 in 5 years. If I am still alive, do I need to pay taxes on that gain even though I sold it to you for $1,000?

If I pass on an asset to my son and pay gift taxes on it, it is his property now. Any appreciation in value post the transfer is his responsibility and follows normal capital gains rules. It is not fair that someone come back to me and try to assess taxes on it.

[gopiscrap]

11. yup

[gopiscrap]

3. yeah, it happens because they fund the political campaigns of many politicians

[PoliticAverse]

4. Well Hillary Clinton was a Walmart board member (1986-1992). n/t

[gopiscrap]

5. Yes and my point is, they fund the campaigns of politicians

to protect their own selves to the detriment of the common good. And the Clinton's aren't that progressive to begin with.

[FreakinDJ]

6. Corporate Tax Code

Individuals how Incorporate themselves or at least their earnings, businesses or estate can do this legally

That is why Romney would not disclose his taxes. Not because what he did was illegal but rather it was legal for the Wealthy Elite

[Dreamer Tatum]

7. How do you know they don't or didn't pay taxes?

Be specific.

[joeglow3]

8. I would be interested in knowing how they got out of inheritance taxes

I am a tax CPA and have worked with many wealthy people (one client was worth close to a billion dollars) and have never seen anyone get out of it.

Edit to add: this depends on what Sam Walton actually owned when he died. Many people will gift interests in a family limited partnership when the kids are born. If he did this early enough (i.e. before the company was worth so much), then the vast majority of the stock appreciation took place AFTER he transferred the ownership and, presumably, paid gift taxes.

[PoliticAverse]

9. The Waltons used both family partnerships and trusts. n/t

[aikoaiko]

12. Because cats and wrecked cars are useless.

[DanTex]

13. Here's an article about it.

...
Alice Walton’s mother and brother poured more than $9 billion into trusts since 2003 that fund charitable projects like Crystal Bridges and are also designed to protect gifts to heirs from taxation. Another Walton pioneered a tax-avoidance maneuver that is now widely used by U.S. billionaires.

“I hate to say it, but the very rich pay very little in gift and estate tax,” said Jerome Hesch, a lawyer at Berger Singerman LLP in Miami who reviewed some of the Walton family’s trust filings for Bloomberg. “At the Waltons’ numbers, the savings are unbelievable.”

A family spokesman, Lance Morgan, said in a statement that “any charitable or estate planning practices employed by the Walton family are broadly available and commonly used.”

Morgan represents the branch of the family that includes Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton’s three surviving children and eight grandchildren. Their Wal-Mart stake is worth enough to fill a large backyard swimming pool with solid gold.
...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-12/how-wal-mart-s-waltons-maintain-their-billionaire-fortune-taxes.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/infographics/2013-09-12/how-to-preserve-a-family-fortune-through-tax-tricks.html