Split Thread Trickle-down economics

[Roger Ramjets]

Wait, the deep state is real? There really is a cadre of career civil servants, doing their best to cockblock the president?

If Trump is doing what that word implies then one would hope so.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

All factories poison the local population. In fact, all people poison the local population. A 'better' factory may reduce it, but can't eliminate it entirely. So we set what we consider to be acceptable limits, balancing the harm against the benefits.

assuming that is true (which it isn't), not all people PROFIT from poisoning the local population. That's the difference.

 

[psionl0]

You keep asserting that a capital expenditure is not an expense.

However, tax wise the Section 179 Deduction is an exception to this.

Perhaps you don't know the difference between tax accounting and financial accounting, I dunno.

You say that a capital expenditure does not affect profit. Tax-wise, a capital expenditure such a as a business vehicle can be treated as a deduction, an expense, just the same as an advertising expense, office expense, travel expense. Profit is what's left after expenses are subtracted from total revenue.

I thought posting a link to a Schedule C would be an easy illustration of this.

I think you are arguing against a claim that I am not making (or denying something that remains true).

I have already agreed that the tax office now allows the full cost of certain assets to be immediately deducted from your business income (so there is no need to keep beating that drum). This is a political decision (to encourage investment) and can not change the maths.

The fact remains that when you purchase an asset, you gain the asset. Unlike "advertising expense, office expense, travel expense" etc, you have to record the fact that you now have this asset in your books. The difference is that if the tax man permits it, you can immediately write the full value off as depreciation (via another bookkeeping entry). How you have to record it in Schedule C may be another matter (you would need to study the guide for Schedule C for the answer).

 

[dirtywick]

I asked how much, and in what way is it an 'investment into corruption'. Your non-answer suggests you don't know.

he spent hundreds of millions ensuring a corrupt admin got elected and continues to stay in power, and he got a seat on a board that determines where future department of war spending happens. pretty basic

 

[The Great Zaganza]

Musk has spend hundreds of millions on the coming Midterms

 

[dirtywick]

half a trillion dollars in the last two election cycles. not bad for a guy that doesn't take a salary and puts every penny back into the business, but we've heard that line before and we know he borrows against his stock holdings so he doesn't have to pay any taxes. now, roger will tell you that's simply because musk hates the trans and black people so much and the left forced him to do it, and he's not receiving any financial incentives in return. that's where i beg to differ

 

[Frank Newgent]

Capital expenditure is not an expense but an investment and therefore, does not affect profit. (Why do you think that the tax man only allows you to included the depreciation of business assets and not their cost as a deduction?).

I think you are arguing against a claim that I am not making (or denying something that remains true).

I have already agreed that the tax office now allows the full cost of certain assets to be immediately deducted from your business income (so there is no need to keep beating that drum). This is a political decision (to encourage investment) and can not change the maths.

The fact remains that when you purchase an asset, you gain the asset. Unlike "advertising expense, office expense, travel expense" etc, you have to record the fact that you now have this asset in your books. The difference is that if the tax man permits it, you can immediately write the full value off as depreciation (via another bookkeeping entry). How you have to record it in Schedule C may be another matter (you would need to study the guide for Schedule C for the answer).

I filed a Schedule C for over thirty-five years.

Your saying "capital expenditure is not an expense but an investment and therefore, does not affect profit" was, tax wise, 100% incorrect.

While financial accounting may give you a general view of the financial status of a business, tax accounting is strategically applied to legally minimize tax liabilities. Why? To bank more of your profit.

That is a view from the ground. You may now return to your balance sheets and income statements.

 

[Frank Newgent]

psionl0, in that the context of all our back-and-forth started in how Elon Musk was conducting his financials... allow me to point out that Tesla has been reprimanded by the SEC on the use of non-GAAP information in its earnings releases.

Tesla had previously defended this by saying non-GAAP figures better reflected their finances.

Tesla Backs Away from Non-GAAP Metrics after SEC Letters

Automobile manufacturer Tesla Motors is dropping the use of some non-GAAP financial measures in its earnings releases after receiving several letters from the Securities and Exchange Commission criticizing the practice.

www.accountingtoday.com

 

[psionl0]

Your saying "capital expenditure is not an expense but an investment and therefore, does not affect profit" was, tax wise, 100% incorrect.

So every cent of expenditure (capital or current) is immediately tax deductible? Then why does line 13 even bother with the word "depreciation"?

 

[Frank Newgent]

So every cent of expenditure (capital or current) is immediately tax deductible? Then why does line 13 even bother with the word "depreciation"?

You may chose not to.

 

[Frank Newgent]

Didn't know about this before (I retired in late 2023): a 100% Bonus Depreciation enacted under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) in July 2025.

Unlike deductions under Section 179, for which the maximum increased to $2.5 million under the new law, bonus depreciation under OBBBA has no annual dollar limit on the deduction. Also unlike Section 179 deductions, which are limited to annual taxable business income, tax professionals can use bonus depreciation to create a net operating loss (NOL).

Bonus Depreciation Strategy for 2026 and Beyond

Learn how the permanent 100 percent bonus depreciation rate could affect your tax strategies and how to model changes with Bloomberg Tax Fixed Assets.

pro.bloombergtax.com

 

[psionl0]

You may chose not to.

You made that up.

Your inability to keep books for your business doesn't mean that I am wrong.

The fact is that when you purchase an asset you gain the asset and its value has to be written off as an expense somehow (especially if you want to claim the expense as a tax deduction). Traditionally, this was through depreciation - the difference between the current value of the asset and its previous value. But the tax office may allow different methods for writing off the value of the asset.

For example the Australian government introduced the category of "Instant Asset Write-off" (I guess you call it section 179) which allowed a business to fully write off the cost of an asset as an expense. Of course, you don't have to show the bookkeeping entries to the tax office. You just write the relevant number in the "instant asset write-off" section of your tax return.

 

[Gulliver Foyle]

well, they didn't. the reduced launch costs made spacex satellite network a lot cheaper to build out and the ceo and it's biggest investors kept the profits and the savings to the tune of being some of the richest people on the planet

so unless the personal wealth trickles down, seems like you got the raw end of the deal

To be honest, that's just falling for the Galaxy Nazi's propaganda. Over 90% of the cost of getting anything into orbit is fuel, so making tge rocket casings and engines reusable is only saving at best 10%, and that's only if you make then indestructible and never in need of repair.