Hacker News Reader

Comment by yabatopia | Hacker News Reader

Why stop at corporate taxes? Why not personal income taxes?

Maybe it's time to transform myself into a corporation. No more taxes, limited liabilities, easy bankruptcy (student loans), can't go to jail even if I make a real mess (financial crisis of 2007, Wells Fargo, BP), welcome at exotic tax havens, tax breaks to move to another region... The ultimate lifehack: forget cloning yourself, just corporize!

View on HN

Lots of people do exactly this, as least for some portion of their finances. Buying houses through an llc and renting to oneself is not uncommon. You lose the tax benefits of interest deduction, but if you're paying cash that doesn't matter anyhow. Other large purchases like cars and boats are owned in similar arrangements. When you are financially independent (not working a W2 job), many of your financials are easily categorized as business-related, with all the tax benefits that incurs.

Ask Wesley Snipes how well this works out. He only spent 3 years in federal prison, a crap load of attorney's fees, and had to pay fines and back taxes.

There's a huge difference between using IRS-allowed expenses to reduce your tax bill and claiming (as Snipes' accountants did) that all domestic income is not taxable.

One is legal and the other is not.

Why don't get why people are downvoting this. One may agree or disagree but it looks like a valid point.

Folks might be downvoting because it isn't a valid point. If you incorporate you're required to pay yourself. The IRS will come down on your like a ton of bricks if they believe you're underpaying yourself. Unless you're a tax attorney, it's a very hazardous line of thinking to believe yourself smarter than the tax man.

One can consult with a tax attorney though.

I propose we abolish all income tax, and implement UBI. There. That's everybody's problems solved.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com