The miserable socialist state of Los Angeles, California recently imposed a measure to tax the city’s wealthiest residents for the supposed purpose of providing housing for the homeless. But “[e]ven before voters passed the measure, bringing a 4% transfer tax on all property sales above $5 million and 5.5% on sales above $10 million in the city of L.A.,” according to the LA Times, many of the very pro-government extremists who promoted the measure were already plotting ways to get around the additional taxes.
Brad Pitt, for instance, sold his Hollywood Hills home for $39 million in the last days of March. By doing so, he avoided a $2.145-million tax bill.
Mark Wahlberg unloaded his Beverly Park mega-mansion for $55 million in February, saving $3.025 million in taxes by selling it before April 1.
Other big names whose real estate deals avoided the tax include Colin Farrell, who sold his Los Feliz villa to a YouTuber for $5.25 million in March, and “Big Bang Theory” star Simon Helberg, who hauled in $7.8 million for a 1930s Spanish Colonial-style retreat. The deal closed on March 31, the day before the tax took effect.
Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel sold his traditional-style home near Brentwood Country Club in February for $14.5 million, staggeringly shy of his original asking price of $25.9 million.
By selling before April, he saved roughly $800,000 he would have owed under ULA. In May, The Times reported that Emanuel has made around $347 million in total pay over the last five years and donated millions to charity.
“In the long term, if the accountants, attorneys and financial advisors employed by the rich can find ways to skirt the tax, revenue from the measure will be far shy of the $900 million annually that was originally projected,” according to the Times.
