Don't Try This at Home; a Media Family Builds Itself a Big Tax Loophole

Sloan, Allan, Newsweek

A media family builds itself a big tax loophole

FOR MOST OF US, THE DOG DAYS OF August are hardly the time to think about next April's day of reckoning with the Internal Revenue Service. But for some people, tax season lasts all year. Consider, if you will, the Chandler family, which controls one of the nation's biggest newspaper companies, Times Mirror. While much of the United States was vegging out in early August, the taxophobic Chandlers completed an innovative Tax-Avoidance Tango, dancing around the tax laws with Times Mirror as their partner.

We last saw the Chandlers' fancy stepping two years ago, when the family managed to increase its dividend income while other holders' income was slashed. Times Mirror had cut its dividend after selling its …

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Publication information: Article title: Don't Try This at Home; a Media Family Builds Itself a Big Tax Loophole. Contributors: Sloan, Allan - Author. Magazine title: Newsweek. Volume: 130. Issue: 8 Publication date: August 25, 1997. Page number: 42. © 2009 Newsweek, Inc. All rights reserved. Any reuse, distribution or alteration without express written permission of Newsweek is prohibited. For permission: www.newsweek.com. COPYRIGHT 1997 Gale Group.

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