Sotheby's is set to auction an
extremely rare Botticelli tax-free to avoid a hefty tax bill.
The portrait of a young man believed to belong to the Medici
family has been put up for auction by the 92-year-old cement
magnate Sheldon Solow.
Solow bought it about 40 years ago for just over $1 million.
Its estimate by the New York auction house is now $80 million.
Normally such a profit would have to be declared as capital
gains tax amounting to something like $33 million.
This is not the case for Solow, who several years ago donated
the work to his private foundation saving millions of dollars in
tax breaks for philanthropy.
The scheme is perfectly legal and is often used by wealthy
Americans to protect various assets from the taxman, ranging
from shares to real estate.
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