《纽约时报》12月5日发表题为《How One of the World’s Richest Men Is Avoiding $8 Billion in Taxes》的文章，指作为世界超级富豪，英伟达首席执行官黄仁勋利用美国联邦遗产税和赠与税中广为人知的漏洞进行避税，金额达到约80亿美元。

文章指出，黄仁勋目前身家为1270亿美元（约合9227亿元人民币），在美国富豪榜中排名第10。理论上，如果他去世，其遗产应该被征税，税款为遗产净值的40%。

然而，现年61岁的黄仁勋不只是一位工程天才和硅谷传奇人物，执掌世界第二高市值公司。根据《纽约时报》查阅的证券及税务报备文件，他还是一系列避税措施的受益人。这些避税措施让黄仁勋在不需要缴税的情况下将相当一部分财富传给后人。

文章称，这些避税措施有望为其家族节省税款大约80亿美元，这很可能是美国规模最大的避税案例之一。

遗产税已成“一具空壳”

文章表示，黄仁勋所采取的财富保护策略在超级富豪中十分普遍。根据《纽约时报》对证券披露文件的分析，黑石集团的苏世民（Stephen A. Schwarzman）、Meta CEO马克·扎克伯格、谷歌、Coinbase、礼来制药、万事达卡及AMD等企业的高管，都在将数十亿美元计的资金转移到金融工具上，以规避联邦遗产税。

文章指出，美国联邦遗产税只针对美国亿万富翁中的一小部分超级富豪征收，但是黄仁勋等富豪的案例表明，这个税种已经“成为一具空壳”。

美国遗产税的收入自2000年以来几乎没有改变过，尽管美国最富有阶层的财富大约增长三倍。按照这样的增幅，美国去年应征收大约1200亿美元的遗产税。然而，实际税款只有这个数字的约四分之一。

这些未能征得的税款将足以让美国司法部的预算加倍，并将美国对癌症和阿尔茨海默症研究的拨款增加至原来的三倍。

文章指出，透过黄仁勋的避税，可以了解超级富豪如何利用美国税收制度漏洞，令其符合自己的利益。他的策略并未得到国会的明确授权，而是由一些别出心裁的律师谋划而成。这些律师利用模糊的联邦法规、法院的狭义判决，及美国国税局针对个别案件发布的裁决。这些个案成为未来避税措施的范例。随着这些措施的普及，它们实际已经成为法律。

“他们有一支训练有素、才华横溢的团队，整天坐在那里，每小时收费1000美元，想方设法逃避这项税收。”路易斯克拉克法学院教授、著有一篇被广泛引用的遗产税论文作者杰克·博格丹斯基（Jack Bogdanski）说，“别指望国会里有人能阻止这件事。”

遗产税执法力度减弱

与此同时，遗产税的执法力度也有所减弱，一定程度上是因为美国国税局连年预算被削减而受到重创。上世纪90年代初，美国国税局对超过20%的遗产税申报进行审计；到2020年，这个比例已经跌至大约3%。

纽约大学税法教授丹尼尔·亨梅尔（Daniel Hemel）表示，通过使用复杂的信托和其它避税策略，最富有的美国人每年能在不交遗产税的情况下传承大约2000亿美元的财富。

图源：纽约时报

随着共和党控制白宫和参众两院，这一趋势可能加剧。他们已经在大幅削减美国国税局的执法经费。即将上任的美国参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩和美国国会其他共和党人多年来一直试图删除遗产税，他们称之为对家庭农场和小型商企的惩罚。

然而，黄仁勋的这种关乎数十亿美元的避税操作，在他向美国证券交易委员会提交的文件以及他的基金会向美国国税局披露的信息中都有详细说明。显示遗产税在很大程度上已经被掏空。

“从遗产税规划的角度看，这就是赢了个大满贯。”为《纽约时报》查阅黄仁勋的披露文件的知名信托和遗产律师乔纳森·布拉特马赫说，“他做得非常漂亮。”

今年3月18日，黄仁勋在美国加利福尼亚州圣何塞市的活动上讲话。（图源：纽约时报）

“傻子才交”

美国于1916年引入现代遗产税。过去几十年，美国国会共和党人已经成功地削弱这一税项，降低税率，增加免税额。在今天，一对夫妇可以留下大约2700万美元的免税遗产；超出部分一般需要缴纳40%的税款。

亿万富翁把避税当成一种乐趣。高盛银行前高管、候任总统特朗普上一个任期的首席经济顾问盖里·科恩曾打趣说：“傻子才交遗产税。”

英伟达股价一直是股市中表现最好的股票之一，自2022年以来飙升800%以上。图源：纽约时报

如何避税

2012年，黄仁勋和他的妻子洛丽首次开始为规避遗产税而进行财富保护操作。

根据黄仁勋提交的一份证券披露文件，他们设立一种名为“不可撤销信托”的金融工具，将58.4万股英伟达股票转入其中。当时这些股票的价值约700万美元，但它们最终为黄仁勋规避的税款是这个金额的几倍。

黄仁勋夫妇是利用了一项近20年前立下的先例。1995年，美国国税局批准一项交易，该交易被税务专业人士戏称为“我中意”（I Dig It）。这个别称是税务专业人士对其中所涉及的金融工具“故意缺陷赠予人信托”（注：Intentionally defective grantor trust的首字母缩写为IDGT，音近I Dig It）名称的恶搞。

图源：纽约时报

“我中意”的巧妙之处在于，它不仅可以规避遗产税，还能大幅规避美国联邦赠与税。赠与税适用于亿万富豪生前赠与继承人的资产，本质上是对遗产税的补充，否则富豪们可以在生前将所有财富赠与他人，从而避开遗产税。

“我中意”是这么设计的。假设有一位虚构的富翁约翰·多伊（John Doe），他将1000万美元现金赠与一个为其子女利益设立的信托。他不必为此缴纳赠与税，除非已经达到2700万美元的赠与税豁免额度。该信托随后会利用这1000万美元和多伊的一笔贷款，购买1亿美元的股票。根据美国国税局1995年的裁定，这些股票不需要缴纳遗产税。

这么做还有一个额外好处，假设信托中的股票价值飙升十倍，增值部分也不需要缴纳遗产税。不过，这可能触发2.14亿美元的资本利得税，也就是9亿美元的增值按23.8%的税率征税。根据美国国税局的另一项裁决，多伊可以代表该信托缴纳这笔税，它不会被认为是对继承人的额外赠与，因此不会被征收赠与税。否则，信托就需要支付这笔资本利得税账单，导致留给后代的财富减少。

“我总说这就是一件能不断给予回报的礼物。”圣路易斯资深信托和遗产律师、参与建立该避税策略的麦可·D·穆雷根说。

今年3月18日，在美国加利福尼亚州圣何塞市，英伟达首席执行官黄仁勋在一年一度的开发者大会上讲话。（图源：新华社）

从黄仁勋提交的证券披露文件中看不到具体细节，但包括穆雷根在内的多位专家表示，这是一次经典的“我中意”式馈赠、出借和出售交易。

黄仁勋在2012年转入信托基金的股票价值700万美元，如今价值超过30亿美元。如果这些股份直接传给黄仁勋的继承人，他们将被征收40%的税，远远超过10亿美元。

但是在经过上述避税操作后，现在他的税款可能不会超过几十万美元。

再进一步

黄仁勋夫妇很快采取另一项重要措施，进一步降低他们的遗产税账单。

英伟达开始成为人工智能技术芯片的主要供应商，最终占据90%以上的市场份额。黄仁勋成为硅谷名人，穿上一身全黑的装束。在科技圈，他的名气和特斯拉CEO马斯克、Meta CEO扎克伯格、谷歌创始人谢尔盖和拉里等人一样，只提一个名字就能知道他是谁。

证券披露文件显示，2016年，黄仁勋夫妇设立了几种名为“授予人保留养老金信托”（简称GRAT）的金融工具。

此举是借鉴了最初沃尔玛联合创始人詹姆斯·沃尔顿（James Walton）的前妻奥黛丽·沃尔顿（Audrey Walton）采取的避税策略。从1993年开始，奥黛丽将大约2亿美元的股票转移至两个GRAT中。这种设计的巧妙之处在于，信托必须最终向奥黛丽偿还这些股票的价值及少量利息

如果股票价值增长，超过需要偿还的金额，信托可以免税保留剩余部分，从而达到避税的效果。

美国国税局曾以有限的技术性理由这一安排提出质疑。但在2000年，美国税务法庭的一名法官裁定该策略合法。

2008年，媒体大亨梅尔·卡马津。他的家人使用“我中意”策略来逃税。（图源：纽约时报）

纽约大学税法教授赫梅尔表示，美国国税局本可以其他理由质疑GRAT的使用，但是该机构却“屈服”了，实际上允许富豪使用这些信托来规避遗产税。

2016年，黄仁勋和妻子将300多万股英伟达股票转入到他们新设立的四个GRAT中，这些股票当时价值约1亿美元。如果这些资产的价值上升，他们的两个成年子女将获得一笔免税的意外之财。两人都在英伟达工作。

事实发展正是如此。数据公司Equilar为《纽约时报》整理的证券文件显示，这些股票目前价值超过150亿美元。这意味着黄家可以避免缴纳大约60亿美元的遗产税。

如果黄仁勋夫妇的信托基金出售这些股票，那将产生一笔巨额的资本利得税。根据英伟达目前的股价计算，这笔税款将超过40亿美元。黄仁勋夫妇可以代表信托基金支付这笔费用，而不会将其计入对继承人的应纳税赠与。

慈善避税

从2007年开始，黄仁勋采用了另一种方法，可以进一步减少家族需要缴纳的遗产税。这一策略包括利用他和妻子设立的慈善基金会——“黄仁勋与洛丽基金会”。

黄仁勋向“黄仁勋与洛丽基金会”捐赠了当时价值约3.3亿美元的英伟达股票。这样的捐赠是免税的，这意味着它们减少了黄仁勋夫妇在捐赠当年的所得税账单。

“黄仁勋与洛丽基金会”每年必须向慈善机构捐出其总资产的至少5%。但黄仁勋夫妇的基金会和许多亿万富翁的基金会一样，通过向所谓的捐赠者建议基金进行大量捐款来满足这一要求。

捐赠者建议基金是由捐赠者控制的资金池，其用途有限，比如不能用来购买汽车或度假屋等。但捐赠人仍然可以决定如何投资这笔资金，例如投资捐赠人朋友经营的企业，或捐出足够多的资金，以命名一所大学的某栋楼，以便自己的孩子能在那里上学。

此举利用美国税法中的一个明显漏洞：捐赠者建议基金实际上无需向慈善组织捐赠任何资金。当捐赠人去世时，基金的控制权可以传给继承人，而不会产生任何遗产税。

近年来，“黄仁勋与洛丽基金会”的84%捐款都捐给了他们的捐赠者建议基金GeForce，这个名称显然是向英伟达的GeForce系列游戏芯片致敬。黄仁勋夫妇捐赠的英伟达股票如今价值约20亿美元。

该基金不需要披露其资金的使用情况，但基金会表示，这些资产将用于慈善目的。英伟达发言人斯蒂芬妮·马修（Stephanie Matthew）表示，用途包括高等教育和公共卫生。

这么做不仅降低黄仁勋的所得税账单，还削减了遗产税。按照英伟达目前的股价计算，对该基金的捐赠已让黄仁勋的遗产税账单减少大约8亿美元。

但是该基金还会带来一个好处。按照英伟达目前的股价计算，对该基金的捐赠，使得黄仁勋最终的遗产税减少了约8亿美元。

截至发稿，英伟达发言人马修拒绝就黄仁勋的税务措施细节置评。

How one of the world’s richest men is avoiding $8 billion in taxes

Dec. 7, 2024 at 6:00 amUpdated Dec. 7, 2024 at 6:00 am 

By 

Jesse Drucker

The New York Times

Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, is the 10th-richest person in the United States, worth $127 billion. In theory, when he dies, his estate should pay 40% of his net worth to the government in taxes.

But Huang, 61, is not only an engineering genius and Silicon Valley icon whose company, the world’s second-most valuable, makes the chips that power much artificial intelligence. He is also the beneficiary of a series of tax dodges that will enable him to pass on much of his fortune tax free, according to securities and tax filings reviewed by The New York Times.

The savings for his family are on a pace to be roughly $8 billion. It likely ranks among the largest tax dodges in the United States.

The types of strategies Huang has deployed to shield his wealth have become ubiquitous among the ultrawealthy. It is just one sign of how the estate tax — imposed on a sliver of the country’s multimillionaires — has been eviscerated.

Revenue from the tax has barely changed since 2000, even as the wealth of the richest Americans has roughly quadrupled. If the estate tax had kept pace, it would have raised around $120 billion last year. Instead it brought in about a quarter of that.

The story of Huang’s tax avoidance is a case study in how the ultrarich bend the U.S. tax system for their benefit. His strategies were not explicitly authorized by Congress. Instead, they were cooked up by creative lawyers who have exploited a combination of obscure federal regulations, narrow findings by courts and rulings that the IRS issues in individual cases that then served as models for future tax shelters.

“You have an army of well-trained, brilliant people who sit there all day long, charging $1,000 an hour, thinking up ways to beat this tax,” said Jack Bogdanski, a professor at Lewis & Clark Law School and the author of a widely cited treatise on the estate tax. “Don’t expect anyone in Congress to stop this.”

The richest Americans are able to pass down approximately $200 billion each year without paying estate tax on it, thanks to the use of complex trusts and other avoidance strategies, estimated Daniel Hemel, a tax law professor at New York University.

Enforcement of the rules governing the estate tax has eased in part because the IRS has been decimated by years of budget cuts. In the early 1990s, the agency audited more than 20% of all estate tax returns. By 2020, the rate had fallen to about 3%.

The trend is likely to accelerate with Republicans controlling both the White House and Capitol Hill. They are already slashing funding for law enforcement by the IRS. The incoming Senate majority leader, John Thune, and other congressional Republicans for years have been trying to kill the estate tax, branding it as a penalty on family farms and small businesses.

Yet Huang’s multibillion-dollar maneuver — detailed in the fine print of his filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and his foundation’s disclosures to the IRS — shows the extent to which the estate tax has already been hollowed out.

An Nvidia spokesperson, Stephanie Matthew, declined to discuss details of the Huangs’ tax strategies.

The United States adopted the modern estate tax in 1916. In recent decades, congressional Republicans have successfully watered it down, cutting the rate and increasing the amount that is exempt from the tax. Today, a married couple can pass on about $27 million tax free; anything more than that is generally supposed to be taxed at a 40% rate.

In 2012, Huang and his wife, Lori, took one of their first steps to shield their fortune from the estate tax.

They set up a financial vehicle known as an irrevocable trust and moved 584,000 Nvidia shares into it, according to a securities disclosure Huang filed. The shares at the time were worth about $7 million, but they would eventually generate tax savings many times greater.

The Huangs were taking advantage of a precedent set nearly two decades earlier, in 1995, when the IRS blessed a transaction that tax professionals affectionately nicknamed “I Dig It.” (The moniker was a play on the name of the type of financial vehicle involved: an intentionally defective grantor trust.)

One of the beauties of I Dig It was that it had the potential to largely circumvent not only the estate tax but also the federal gift tax. That tax applies to assets that multimillionaires give to their heirs while they’re alive and essentially serves as a backstop to the estate tax; otherwise, rich people could give away all their money before they die in order to avoid the estate tax.

In Huang’s case, the details in securities filings are limited. But multiple experts, said it was almost certainly a classic I Dig It gift, loan and sale transaction.

The $7 million of shares Huang moved into his trust in 2012 are today worth more than $3 billion. If those shares were directly passed on to Huang’s heirs, they would be taxed at 40% — or well over $1 billion. Instead, the tax bill will probably be no more than a few hundred thousand dollars.

The Huangs soon took another big step toward reducing their estate-tax bill. In 2016, they set up several vehicles known as grantor retained annuity trusts, or GRATs, securities filings show.

They put just over 3 million Nvidia shares into their four new GRATs. The shares were worth about $100 million. If their value rose, the increase would be a tax-free windfall for their two adult children, who both work at Nvidia.

That is precisely what happened. The shares are now worth more than $15 billion, according to data from securities filings compiled by Equilar, a data firm. That means the Huang family is poised to avoid roughly $6 billion in estate taxes.

If the Huangs’ trusts sell their shares, that will generate a hefty capital gains tax bill — more than $4 billion, based on Nvidia’s current stock price. The Huangs can pay that bill on behalf of the trusts, without it counting as a taxable gift to their heirs.

Starting in 2007, Huang deployed another technique that will further reduce his family’s estate taxes. This strategy involved taking advantage of his and his wife’s charitable foundation.

Huang has given the Jen Hsun & Lori Huang Foundation shares of Nvidia worth about $330 million at the time of the donations. Such donations are tax-deductible, meaning they reduced the Huangs’ income tax bills in the years that the gifts took place.

Foundations are required to make annual donations to charities equal to at least 5% of their total assets. But the Huangs’ foundation is satisfying that requirement by giving heavily to what is known as a donor-advised fund.

Such funds are pools of money that the donor controls. There are limitations on how the money can be spent. Buying cars or vacation homes or the like is off limits. But a fund could, say, invest money in a business run by the donor’s friend or donate enough money to name a building at a university that the donor’s children hope to attend.

There is a gaping loophole in the tax laws: Donor-advised funds are not required to actually give any money to charitable organizations. When the donor dies, control of the fund can pass to his heirs — without incurring any estate taxes.

In recent years, 84% of the Huang foundation’s donations have gone to their donor-advised fund, named GeForce, an apparent nod to the name of an Nvidia video game chip. The Nvidia shares the Huangs have donated are today worth about $2 billion.

The fund is not required to disclose how its money is spent, though the foundation has said the assets will be used for charitable purposes. Matthew said those causes included higher education and public health.

But there is another benefit. Based on Nvidia’s current stock price, the donations to the fund have reduced Huang’s eventual estate-tax bill by about $800 million.