Guess not. Here's what Jim Sinegal, co-founder and former CEO of Costco (not to mention Obama supporter and donor) is doing in order to let shareholders of his company avoid paying higher taxes on capital gains in 2013 when the rates go up:
"...The giant retailer announced Wednesday that the company will pay a special dividend of $7 a share this month. That's a $3 billion Christmas gift for shareholders that will let them be taxed at the current dividend rate of 15%, rather than next year's rate of up to 43.4%—an increase to 39.6% as the Bush-era rates expire plus another 3.8% from the new ObamaCare surcharge. More striking is that Costco also announced that it will borrow $3.5 billion to finance the special payout. Dividends are typically paid out of earnings, either current or accumulated. But so eager are the Costco executives to get out ahead of the tax man that they're taking on debt to do so."Mr. Sinegal stands to benefit as well. I read elsewhere that "Mr. Sinegal owns two million Costco shares, and his wife owns nearly 85,000 shares. He stands to make at least $14 million from the dividend. After taxes, he'll keep about $12 million. But if he waited until next year, he'd get only $8 million. By cashing in this year, he's avoiding $4 million in higher Obama taxes."
And people wonder why conservatives disdain liberals and their phony "indignation" about those nasty Republican millionnaires.
"Costco's Dividend Tax Epiphany" (Wall Street Journal, November 30, 2012)
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