Should corporations be allowed to write off their beach houses as expenses on their taxes?
I was just listening in the background to the Extra Hollywood gossip show, and I overheard that LG has a beach house in Malibu. After a quick search, it appears that so does Polaroid, and apparently their neighbors nearby don’t like the parties, as reported here at the Real Estate Bloggers.
Who cares if they’re bummed out about all the noise. They live in one of the largest metropolises in the world and bought a beach house nearby. They should expect some noise. People want to be there. But that’s not what is really at issue.
What is really annoying is the thought that corporations can host parties and marketing events in these places and take them off of their tax bills as expenses. If the government can justify withholding health care from kids who cannot get it otherwise due to pre-existing conditions clauses, then surely someone can think up a reason to keep corporations from getting tax breaks for beach parties, right? Give me an argument here against both please. There must be one.
This situation is very similar to tax deductions that are given to college sports teams for things like luxury box rentals at sporting events — a controversial "Fleecing of America" story this week on NBC. They’re reporting a $100 million in lost tax revenues from luxury donations. This deduction should end too.
The only problem with this effort is that people are saying that it is "socialistic" to remove this deduction. Apparently these people see removing this privilege as the government telling them how to spend their money instead of the government getting out of that business and telling people to find their own way. How can taking away a government subsidy for something be socialism? Clearly someone who believes in the markets knows that these people would be happy to pay for these luxury boxes without the tax deduction. They would, wouldn’t they?
How can we justify these beach party policies when we’re supposed to be waging two wars?
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Posted on October 12, 2007
Filed Under Government, Real Estate, Sports, Urbanity |
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3 Responses to “Should corporations be allowed to write off their beach houses as expenses on their taxes?”
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I don’t see a problem. We should not be trying to regulate every single thing a person or corporation does. I really see little harm in a corporation own a jet, a beach house or whatever - unless stockholders are being harmed I suppose.
I have a hard time taking a stance on the “regulation” issue because it sounds ridiculous to allow any person or entity to reduce their taxes with parties, which are referred to as “marketing events” whether for personal entertainment or not. Any party used for real marketing should be allowed, but any party used for the entertainment of the people in power is an unethical, although perhaps legal, move. But in the end there are other items that we let people expense that are as equally ridiculous. Does the fact that it’s on a beach make it seem more egregious? It’s hard to draw a line in the sand for sure, unless for the volleyball game.
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