
Re: This is like the political argument that huge tax cuts pay for themselves
I think what you want to do is mention something about 501(c)(3) in the USA, which _APPEAR_ to be somewhat ABUSED, to not only SHELTER income from taxation, but to use it improperly to engage in (let's say) questionable purposes, like political activism (right George?)
So, for THESE very rich people, who might have a foundation or 10 that are 501(c) tax exempt, all of the money poured into these non-profits is just THAT, i.e. TAX EXEMPT. if you THEN use it to "buy something" you want, whether it's inflated salaries to friends and relatives, or uber-special vacations for board members, and maybe some stealth-political-activism in the form of employees that are effectively paid to BLOG all day, you end up amplifying the effectiveness of whatever money you funnel into these things. And your personal overall effective tax rate gets lower, and lower, and lower...
But of course you'd have to be SUPER wealthy for any of this to work.