巴菲特致合伙人的信（1970年2月25日）②税项

Taxation

The interest received upon the deposit of coupons from tax-free bonds is, of course, free from Federal Income Taxes. This means if you are at a 30% top Federal Income Tax bracket, a 6% return from tax-free bonds is equivalent to about 8-1/2% from taxable bonds. Thus, for most of our partners, excluding minors or some retired people, tax-free bonds will be more attractive than taxable bonds. For people with little or no income from wages or dividends, but with substantial capital, it is possible that a combination of taxable bonds (to bring taxable income up to about the 25% or 30% bracket) plus tax-free bonds will bring the highest total after-tax income. Where appropriate, we will work with you to achieve such a balance.

税项

将免税债券的息票存在银行可获得利息收入，这部分利息当然不必缴纳联邦所得税。如果你的联邦所得税税档为30%，你从收益率为6%的免税债券所获得的收益，与收益率为8.5%的应税债券相当。除了未成年人和一些退休人员，对于我们的大部分合伙人来说，购买免税债券比购买应税债券合适多了。有的人有一大笔资金，但是没有工作收入或股息收入，他们可以做一个应税债券和免税债券的组合，可以获得最高的税后收益。如果你属于这种情况，我们会帮你构建一个这样的组合。

The situation in respect to State Income Taxes is more complicated. In Nebraska. where the State Income Tax is computed as a percentage of the Federal Income Tax, the effect is that there is no state tax on interest from tax-free bonds. My understanding of both the New York and California law is that tax-free bonds of entities within the home state are not subject to State Income Tax, but tax-free bonds from other states are subject to the local State Income Tax. I also believe that the New York City Income Tax exempts tax-free bonds of entities based within the State of New York, but taxes those from other states. I am no expert on state income taxes and make no attempt to post myself on changes taking place within the various states or cities. Therefore, I defer to your local tax advisor, but simply mention these few general impressions so that you will be alert to the existence of a potential problem. In Nebraska there is no need to have any local considerations enter into the after-tax calculation. Where out-of-state issues are subject to local taxation, the effective cost of your State or Municipal Income Tax is reduced by the benefit received from deducting it on your Federal Income Tax return. This, of course, varies with the individual. Additionally, in some states there are various taxes on intangible property which may apply to all tax-free bonds or just those of out-of-state entities. There are none of these in Nebraska, but I cannot advise on the other states.

至于各州的所得税，情况就比较复杂了。在内布拉斯加州，州所得税是联邦所得税的一定百分比，免税债券无需支付州所得税。据我所知，在纽约州和加利福尼亚州，如果发行免税债券的实体位于本州，则无需交纳州所得税，但是购买其他州的免税债券需要交纳州所得税。另外，纽约市的所得税法规定免除纽约州实体发行的免税债券的所得税，但是购买其他州的免税债券需要交税。我不是各州所得税方面的专家，也不想持续关注各州或各市税法的变化。请各位自行咨询当地的税收顾问。我上面简单说了一下我了解的情况，是为了提醒各位注意这个问题。在内布拉斯加州，在计算税后收益时，无需考虑免税债券的发行实体位于哪个州。当发行实体位于其他州并且需要在本地交纳税款时，你需要在本州交纳所得税，但是这笔税款可以在申报联邦所得税时扣除。具体税款是多少，每个人各不相同。另外，有些州还征收各种无形资产税，有的适用于所有免税债券，有的只适用于其他州发行的免税债券。内布拉斯加州没有这些税项，其他州的情况我不了解。

When bonds are bought at a discount from par and later are sold or mature (come due and get paid), the difference between the proceeds and cost is subject to capital gain or loss treatment. (There are minor exceptions to this statement as, unfortunately, there are to most general statements on investments and taxes but they will be pointed out to you should they affect any securities we recommend). This reduces the net after-tax yield by a factor involving the general rate of future capital gains taxes and the specific future tax position of the individual. Later on, we will discuss the impact of such capital gains taxes in calculating the relative attractiveness of discount bonds versus "full coupon" bonds.

买入债券时，买入价格低于面值，此后将债券卖出或债券到期时，税法规定将收益和成本之差按资本利得或损失处理。（这个情况有一些小例外。大部分关于投资和税项的一般陈述都总有例外。如果例外情况会影响到我们推荐的证券，我们会告诉你。）这样，税后净收益率会降低，具体降低多少，取决于将来的资本利得税税率以及个人的具体税率。在下文中，在计算贴现债券和“足额息票”债券哪个更合适时，我们会讨论资本利得税的影响。

Finally, one most important point. Although the law is not completely clear, you should probably not contemplate owning tax-free bonds if you have, or expect to have, general purpose bank or other indebtedness.

最后要说的是非常重要的一点。虽然税法的规定不是特别明确，但是如果你现在正在承担或将来打算承担一般的银行负债或其他债务，最好还是别考虑购买免税债券。

The law excludes the deductibility of interest on loans incurred or continued to purchase or carry tax-free bonds, and the interpretation of this statute will probably tend to be broadened as the years pass. For example, my impression is that you have no problem if you have a mortgage against real property (unless the debt was incurred in order to acquire municipal bonds) in deducting the mortgage interest on your Federal Tax return, even though you own tax-free bonds at the same time. However, I believe that if you have a general bank loan, even though the proceeds were directly used to purchase stocks, a handball court, etc. and the tax-free bonds are not used for security for the loan, you are asking for trouble if you deduct the interest and, at the same time, are the owner of tax-free bonds. Therefore, I would pay off bank loans before owning tax-free bonds, but I leave detailed examination of this question to you and your tax advisor. I merely mention it to make you aware of the potential problem.

税法规定，对于已经产生或持续产生的贷款，其利息不可用于抵税，不得购买或持有免税债券。将来这项规定的适用范围应该会加大。例如，根据我的理解，如果贷款买房，可以在申报联邦所得税时用房贷的利息抵税，就算同时持有免税债券也没问题。但是，如果承担着一般的银行贷款，就算将其用于直接购买股票或球场，免税债券不是贷款的抵押物，在报税时用贷款利息抵税会惹麻烦，因为你同时持有免税债券。如果是我的话，我会先把银行贷款还了，然后再买免税债券。具体到底该怎么做，请自行研究并咨询税收顾问。我只是提一下，告诉各位可能有这个问题。