Joe the Plumber

I was thinking about all this Joe the Plumber baloney today. Let's say he really is a plumber who is going to buy the business, and he is so worried that he will be taxed more if he makes over $250,000. If he actually reports over $250,000 in a year, he should fire his accountant, because no self respecting business owner reports a lot of income. All he has to do is incorporate the business and then much, if not most, of what he owns can be purchased by the business and written off as business expenses. As long as he follows the rules, it is perfectly legal. The business buys his car which he uses as a company vehicle, and he writes it off as a business expense. Perfectly legal. When Joe takes a vacation, he mixes in a little bit of business and writes off most of the trip. Joe's business can buy football season tickets and Joe can take a customer of his from time to time to keep it legit. Joe's business can buy a yacht which Joe goes fishing on every weekend. He takes a few customers or employees out once in a while to keep it legit and the yacht is written off as a business expense. Once Joe goes big time, his business can buy a private jet, which of course Joe uses all the time. These business expenses just keep adding up. He can buy vacation homes in Aspen and Honolulu, and again, as long as he follows the rules, they can also be written off as business expenses. There is little reason for Joe to be buying any big ticket items himself(and thus have to pay himself a lot of money and expose himself to taxes) as they can all be justified as business expenses. The company I work for has a private jet, a megayacht, and a luxury skybox(that I know of, and I assume they have a lot more then that). Do you really think that the owner of my company paid himself a ton of money, paid the income taxes, and then bought that stuff? Of course not. They are all "owned" by the company and written off as business expenses. In the company I work for, even lower level management abuses this type of thing all the time. Forgot their lunch money? No problem, take a trainee to lunch, use your credit card, and bingo, it a business expense. Just submit your T and E report and get reimbursed. Feel like pounding beers after work but are a little short of cash? No problem. Invite your employees and bingo, it is a company night out! submit your T and E report and all the beer is free. The world series starts this week. I have a feeling there will be a lot of company nights out that night..lol. I won't worry about Joe the plumber and his tax problem too much. I have a feeling that regardless of how his business does, he won't be paying much in taxes.