Why do companies not purchase debt at debt collector prices and forgive it like Stephen Colbert did every year to massively reduce their tax liabilities?

Question

Why do companies not purchase debt at debt collector prices and forgive it like Stephen Colbert did every year to massively reduce their tax liabilities?

In: Economics

Answer 1

tax deductions only work for what you paid into it. to add on to other examples here, lets say i saw a computer I wanted for work selling for 600 thats usually 2,000. thats a great deal and id snatch it up in a minute. however i can only write it off for the 600 i paid, what its “worth” doesnt come into play. for the record if someone did try to claim it for the original “worth” and not what they actually put i to it that would be in tax evasion territory.