19h's comment that started this sub-thread is a perfect example of the horrible state of civics education.
I'm not an accountant and I definitely don't know taxes properly either, but I do know enough about taxes to know that businesses pay taxes on their net profit (gross income - losses = net profit). Those losses can be payroll costs, costs of goods, shipping and handling costs, rent, loan payments, insurance premiums, equipment purchases and upkeep, travel and lodging expenditures, and so on.
Assuming that the losses are legitimate and can be audited if necessary, this is not tax evasion and to baselessly accuse anyone of it is literally defamation.
Presumably you weren't planning to do that when you set it up. But sometimes people do lose money, particularly if they took a risk. If you take enough risks, you'll probably always have some losses ready to be realized.
Brilliant. I own some Bed Bath and Beyond stock. I was going to sell it for a ton of money, but now that the company is bankrupt, I can sell it for practically nothing and avoid taxes!
You probably can. You wouldn't have bought them strategically for that purpose of course.
Most people probably pick a mix of winners and losers. After you find out which ones were the losers, then I guess you can cash them in to lower your taxes strategically. I think that's the idea.
...depends on the jurisdiction. In many property taxes aren't based on the last transaction price, they're based on what the city assesses the prices as. Selling the property for $1 won't affect the value of the property, unless all the other buildings in the same area do the same thing.
>- Money laundering? Check.
Except property transfers are public information so it's obvious what's going on.
