• fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de
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    6 months ago

    This is just plain incorrect.

    The law doesn’t allow CEOs to write off yachts.

    Whether or not regulators investigate them is another matter.

    • dustyData@lemmy.world
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      6 months ago

      That’s why they don’t own the yachts, but they own the charter companies that run the yachts.

    • elxeno@lemm.ee
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      6 months ago

      Can’t they just buy in the name of a company, which would be a ‘business expense’, which is kind of a write off?

      • HydraulicMonkey@lemmy.world
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        6 months ago

        They would have to justify how it is a part of the companies operations. In theory at least.

        So a private jet to fly your execs to business meets? Ok.

        A yacht? Maybe for entertaining customers? I don’t know about the US, but here in Australia entertainment expenses are written off at a lower rate than other business expenses.

        • TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.world
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          6 months ago

          A yacht can have meeting rooms, you can receive clients in these meeting rooms for business purposes, making it therefore a business expense.

        • fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de
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          6 months ago

          here in Australia entertainment expenses are written off at a lower rate than other business expenses.

          Sorry mate. Not really correct.

          If an Australian company pays for entertainment expenses for staff, it’s considered a fringe benefit and fringe benefits tax is payable. It equates to almost the cost of the actual expense. So if a company pays $10k for an employee to take a holiday, they’ll have to pay almost $10k in fringe benefits tax, but they do get a deduction for the whole $20k, which will save them $5k in income tax.

      • fine_sandy_bottom@discuss.tchncs.de
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        6 months ago

        It doesn’t work like that. Expenses need to be “necessarily incurred in the course of producing income”. Just be cause a company pays for something doesn’t make it tax deductible.