Subject: Re: Buyback tax
longtimebrk: this was why I posted this and the thread got moved to a political board when in fact it is just simply business.

A 4% buyback tax will change Warren's thinking in my opinion. It definitely is a negative for Berkshire shareholders regardless of your politics. I am apolitical.



Yes, we should certainly try to keep this as apolitical as possible, but the fact of the matter is that the next president will almost certainly be Biden or Trump, and Biden seems to be in favour of increasing the repurchase tax from 1% to 4%; Trump, we don't know, but I found this:

President Trump told reporters on Thursday he would be "OK" with a conditional coronavirus bailout that bans stock buybacks for companies that receive federal relief.

Why it matters: Trump's tax cuts set off a record-setting buyback spree in corporate America. The comments are a shift in tone, given that his deputies have defended share repurchases in the past.

What he's saying: Trump said he was "never happy" that companies were using cash to buy back stock.

https://www.axios.com/2020/03/...

I haven't seen any more recent comments from Trump about such a tax, although in 2018 there was a Republican proposal in the Senate, sponsored by Marco Rubio, to raise tax on buybacks, so there is some Republican support for the idea. And the prospect of such a tax, eventually, might be a pretty good reason for Buffett to repurchase shares a little more aggressively, while the tax is still low.

dtb