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Finance: What is Conduit Theory? 9 Views


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What is Conduit Theory? Conduit theory is a rationale argument against double taxation of investment companies that pass on all dividends, interest, and capital gains to shareholders. Since the investment companies are retaining almost none of the earnings, conduit theory poses that they are acting like a conduit, or pipeline, and should not be subject to corporate tax, treating them instead like mutual funds or S-corporations.

Language:
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Transcript

00:00

And finance Allah Shmoop What is conduit theory Old All

00:07

right people If you try really really hard you can

00:10

do it Sorry you couldn't resist Okay So here's a

00:14

conduit Yeah Fancy five dollar word for pipe A different

00:18

kind of pipe Yeah they're okay Conduit theory relates to

00:21

the tax treatment of an investment company Well the basic

00:24

idea is that if the company passes ninety percent or

00:27

more of its net income gains and so on through

00:31

a figurative conduit then well then that money that ninety

00:35

percent passed through won't be taxed on the income of

00:38

the corporation That is The company won't be first taxed

00:41

when it earns that income Only to then have the

00:44

recipients of those cash distributions be taxed again Instead the

00:48

income and losses if any will be passed to the

00:52

investor or slash owners of that company And those shareholders

00:55

will then be taxed as individuals or in whatever vehicle

00:59

through which they invested in the company All right example

01:07

brass knuckles ink made fifty million dollars This year it's

01:10

going to keep five million dollars and just add to

01:13

the twelve million it already has in the bank You

01:15

know rainy day money but it's going to pass through

01:18

via the Conduit Theory system forty five million dollars to

01:22

its shareholders I eat ninety percent of its fifty mil

01:25

in profits so the company will be tax and say

01:28

thirty percent on the five million it's going to keep

01:31

or it'll pay one point five million in taxes and

01:33

keep a net three point five million dollars for that

01:36

rainy day fund But then it'll pass through the forty

01:39

five million to it's conveniently numbered forty five shareholders who

01:42

all own an equal amount of brass knuckles ink Well

01:46

then each shareholder gets a million box on which they

01:49

would then be taxed as individuals This system of conduit

01:53

profits to the owners is the opposite of what happens

01:56

in many corporations Were taxes are paid twice once on

02:00

the earnings of the corporation and then again after earnings

02:03

have been passed on to shareholders usually in the form

02:06

of a dividend Well in this case had brass knuckles

02:09

not adopted conduit theory for tax purposes it would've paid

02:13

fifteen million dollars in taxes on the fifty million a

02:15

taxable profits to net thirty five million which would then

02:18

be contained or retained in the company then presumably at

02:22

some later date and years down the road had the

02:24

company then distributed that money to shareholders Shareholders would then

02:29

again be taxed and they'll say thirty percent long term

02:32

gain raids or something like that so that the thirty

02:34

five mill would have been boiled down to something closer

02:36

to just twenty five million net after the massive tax

02:40

hits had you know hit So put that in your 00:02:43.97 --> [endTime] conduit in smoke it Whoa

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