Comment Re:Misleading- Good will is common accounting (Score 4, Informative) 255
There is no loophole here.
Imagine buying a truck to use in a business. The cost of the truck can be written off against earnings over a number of years instead of all at once. The accounting principle here is to spread the cost of the asset over its useful life.
Goodwill is also an asset that can be written off over a number of years. It's an intangible asset with a more ambiguous useful life. The mechanism for writing it off over 15 years instead of, say, 40 years may be questionable. Government policy to attract investment may have led to the 15-year period.
So long as Ballmer is forced to follow the government's rules and he spreads the cost over many years, I see no problem..