Kerry writes in an exemption for Heinz Foods for Tax legislation
proposal
Wednesday, July 14, 2004 7:35 p.m. EDT
Kerry Carved Out Tax Loophole for Heinz Foods
Tax legislation proposed by Democratic presidential candidate John
Kerry last year was designed to crackdown on companies doing business
overseas - but the proposal had one giant loophole: an exemption for
companies like the H.J. Heinz Foods Co., the source of his wife's vast
fortune.
The stunning Kerry-Heinz conflict of interest came to light on
Wednesday in a report by Donald Luskin, chief investment officer of
Trend Macrolytics LLC, published in National Review Online.
"Already Kerry's economic proposals seem tuned to serve his wife's
economic interests," Luskin contended.
"His proposal last March to end tax breaks for U.S. corporations that
do business overseas was designed with a loophole that would let the
H.J. Heinz Company - the centerpiece of Mrs. Kerry's family fortune -
keep its overseas tax breaks, and get a lower domestic tax rate at the
same time."
Luskin cited Kerry's Heinz Foods tax loophole as just one example of
why it was absolutely imperative that his wife unseal her tax returns
before the election.
So far the prospective first lady has agreed to make just two pages of
her tax forms public - and then not until October. Meanwhile, there are
indications that she may have significantly understated her income.
Limited tax information released by Mrs. Kerry in March put her annual
2003 income at $5 million. While the Heinz Kerrys refuse to reveal the
full extent of their wealth, the Los Angeles Times valued her net worth
last month at between $900 million and $3.2 billion.
Even if Heinz Kerry picked extremely conservative investments, Luskin
said, her reported income was suspiciously low.
"Let's put this in terms that people of less extreme wealth can relate
to," he wrote. "If you had $100,000 invested last year and your
investment income was only $500 - the same percentage as Mrs. Kerry's
income - then something would be very much out of whack."
Luskin said that Heinz Kerry's financial figures, such as they're known
to date, suggest that she is either "the world's worst investor" or
"Mrs. Kerry may be the world's greatest cheat."
"We can't know exactly what is out of whack with Mrs. Kerry's income,
if anything, because ... [her] separate [tax] returns have never been
made part of the public record," Luskin said.
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