"Now of course I am minimizing my tax ... and if anybody in this country doesn't minimize their tax, they want their heads read.”....

Kerry Packer, an Australian media tycoon.

To help the public recognize and avoid abusive tax schemes, the IRS offers an abundance of educational materials. Participating in an illegal scheme to avoid paying taxes can result in imprisonment and fines, as well as the repayment of taxes owed with penalties and interest. Education is the best way to avoid the pitfalls of these “too good to be true” tax scams.

 Corporate tax refers to a direct tax levied by various jurisdictions on the profits made by companies or associations. As a general principle, this varies substantially between jurisdictions. In particular allowances for capital expenditure and the amount of interest payments that can be deducted from gross profits when working out the tax liability vary substantially. Also, tax rates may vary depending on whether profits have been distributed to shareholders or not. Profits which have been reinvested may not be taxed.

In the United States, the federal rate is 35%. But since 1999, when Treasury announced the "check the box" system many corporations can elect to be treated as a pass-through entity, thereby skipping the entity level 35% tax and having all income pass through to the shareholders. This is the tax treatment that the much discussed "S" corporations receive but now many more types of state-law corporation may avoid double taxation by "checking the box".

This is the second highest rate among the world's most developed economies (those in the OECD -- the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). Only Japan is higher.

Under current law, long-term capital gains and dividend income are taxed at a maximum rate of 15 percent through 2008. For taxpayers in the 10 and 15 percent tax brackets, the tax rate is 5 percent through 2007 and zero in 2008. The Conference Report extends the rates effective in 2008 through 2010. Without action, these rates would have increased after 2008.

In finance, a capital gain is profit that results from the appreciation of a capital asset over its purchase price. If the price of the capital asset has declined instead of appreciated, this is called a capital loss. Capital gains occur in both real assets, such as property, as well as financial assets, such as stocks or bonds.

Self-employed workers cannot contribute to a 401K plan of the type with which most people are familiar. However, there are various vehicles available to self employed individuals to save for retirement. Many set up a Simplified Employee Pension Plan (SEP) IRA, which allows them to contribute up to 25% of their income, up to $44,000 (2006) per year. There is also a vehicle called the Self Employed 401K or SE 401K for self employed people. The contribution limits vary slightly depending on how your business is organized but are generally higher than the other types of plans.

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