https://www.propublica.org/article/the- ... income-taxIn 2007, Jeff Bezos, then a multibillionaire and now the world’s richest man, did not pay a penny in federal income taxes. He achieved the feat again in 2011. In 2018, Tesla founder Elon Musk, the second-richest person in the world, also paid no federal income taxes.
Michael Bloomberg managed to do the same in recent years. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn did it twice. George Soros paid no federal income tax three years in a row.
ProPublica has obtained a vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people, covering more than 15 years. The data provides an unprecedented look inside the financial lives of America’s titans, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg. It shows not just their income and taxes, but also their investments, stock trades, gambling winnings and even the results of audits.
To capture the financial reality of the richest Americans, ProPublica undertook an analysis that has never been done before. We compared how much in taxes the 25 richest Americans paid each year to how much Forbes estimated their wealth grew in that same time period.
We’re going to call this their true tax rate.
The results are stark. According to Forbes, those 25 people saw their worth rise a collective $401 billion from 2014 to 2018. They paid a total of $13.6 billion in federal income taxes in those five years, the IRS data shows. That’s a staggering sum, but it amounts to a true tax rate of only 3.4%.
It’s a completely different picture for middle-class Americans, for example, wage earners in their early 40s who have amassed a typical amount of wealth for people their age. From 2014 to 2018, such households saw their net worth expand by about $65,000 after taxes on average, mostly due to the rise in value of their homes. But because the vast bulk of their earnings were salaries, their tax bills were almost as much, nearly $62,000, over that five-year period
Taxes are for sucks
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Taxes are for sucks
Why would any 1%’er want a flat tax or care about the national debt when the current system is so damn equitable ( ) ?
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
Thanks for pointing out what we all know- the IRS is a criminal, rogue organization, violating their own rules and US law by illegally releasing the tax data of US citizens. Even uber rich liberal Americans have a right to privacy…kalm wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 5:42 am Why would any 1%’er want a flat tax or care about the national debt when the current system is so damn equitable ( ) ?
https://www.propublica.org/article/the- ... income-taxIn 2007, Jeff Bezos, then a multibillionaire and now the world’s richest man, did not pay a penny in federal income taxes. He achieved the feat again in 2011. In 2018, Tesla founder Elon Musk, the second-richest person in the world, also paid no federal income taxes.
Michael Bloomberg managed to do the same in recent years. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn did it twice. George Soros paid no federal income tax three years in a row.
ProPublica has obtained a vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people, covering more than 15 years. The data provides an unprecedented look inside the financial lives of America’s titans, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg. It shows not just their income and taxes, but also their investments, stock trades, gambling winnings and even the results of audits.
To capture the financial reality of the richest Americans, ProPublica undertook an analysis that has never been done before. We compared how much in taxes the 25 richest Americans paid each year to how much Forbes estimated their wealth grew in that same time period.
We’re going to call this their true tax rate.
The results are stark. According to Forbes, those 25 people saw their worth rise a collective $401 billion from 2014 to 2018. They paid a total of $13.6 billion in federal income taxes in those five years, the IRS data shows. That’s a staggering sum, but it amounts to a true tax rate of only 3.4%.
It’s a completely different picture for middle-class Americans, for example, wage earners in their early 40s who have amassed a typical amount of wealth for people their age. From 2014 to 2018, such households saw their net worth expand by about $65,000 after taxes on average, mostly due to the rise in value of their homes. But because the vast bulk of their earnings were salaries, their tax bills were almost as much, nearly $62,000, over that five-year period
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
Agree on the IRS but whistleblowers serve an important purpose sometimes.BDKJMU wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 12:34 pmThanks for pointing out what we all know- the IRS is a criminal, rogue organization, violating their own rules and US law by illegally releasing the tax data of US citizens. Even uber rich liberal Americans have a right to privacy…kalm wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 5:42 am Why would any 1%’er want a flat tax or care about the national debt when the current system is so damn equitable ( ) ?
https://www.propublica.org/article/the- ... income-tax
Cant both be true?
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
What was important here? That income taxes only tax *gulp* income? It's not like ProPublica was reporting on the Watergate break-in or something. We already know all of this - wealth isn't taxed directly. Income is taxed, but unrealized capital gains aren't income. Is water still wet? Is the Pope still Catholic? There are lots of other grounndbreakingly obvious things ProPublica could be reporting on.
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
GannonFan wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 12:52 pmWhat was important here? That income taxes only tax *gulp* income? It's not like ProPublica was reporting on the Watergate break-in or something. We already know all of this - wealth isn't taxed directly. Income is taxed, but unrealized capital gains aren't income. Is water still wet? Is the Pope still Catholic? There are lots of other groundbreakingly obvious things ProPublica could be reporting on.
Was the person or persons who provided this information to ProPublica a whistleblower? Definition of whistleblower - a person who informs on a person or organization engaged in an illicit activity. Did these wealthy individuals do anything illicit? Or did they take advantage of existing tax loopholes?
Who really thinks that the answer is to raise taxes? The uber-wealthy will continue to find and take advantage of loopholes and the people who can't afford an army of accountants and tax attorneys will pay the higher taxes. Remove loopholes, simplify the tax system.
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
Not really picking on you 88 but I think this actually is part of the problem. People calling them loopholes makes it sound like they actually are doing something elicit. They are following the tax rules. It would be like calling a flea flicker for a TD a scoring loophole.
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
Kalm loves a wealth tax so much he had to start a 2nd thread on the propublica leak.
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
This isn't picking on me because it's a valid point. I would imagine that the tax code is filled with legal loopholes that most don't have the resources or income levels to take advantage of.89Hen wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 2:00 pmNot really picking on you 88 but I think this actually is part of the problem. People calling them loopholes makes it sound like they actually are doing something elicit. They are following the tax rules. It would be like calling a flea flicker for a TD a scoring loophole.
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
Dementia: When you can’t remember that you started a thread on the exact same thing the week prior….
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
They can't take advantage because they can't find them, or because they don't have that type of assets/income? If you follow the tax code, you are not using a loophole. You are following the code.UNI88 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 2:31 pmThis isn't picking on me because it's a valid point. I would imagine that the tax code is filled with legal loopholes that most don't have the resources or income levels to take advantage of.89Hen wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 2:00 pm
Not really picking on you 88 but I think this actually is part of the problem. People calling them loopholes makes it sound like they actually are doing something elicit. They are following the tax rules. It would be like calling a flea flicker for a TD a scoring loophole.
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
Illicit.89Hen wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 2:00 pmNot really picking on you 88 but I think this actually is part of the problem. People calling them loopholes makes it sound like they actually are doing something elicit. They are following the tax rules. It would be like calling a flea flicker for a TD a scoring loophole.
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
I was talking about electronic versions.AshevilleApp wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 3:10 pmIllicit.89Hen wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 2:00 pm
Not really picking on you 88 but I think this actually is part of the problem. People calling them loopholes makes it sound like they actually are doing something elicit. They are following the tax rules. It would be like calling a flea flicker for a TD a scoring loophole.
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
89 is such a goody-two-shoes that he can't even type the word illicit.AshevilleApp wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 3:10 pmIllicit.89Hen wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 2:00 pm
Not really picking on you 88 but I think this actually is part of the problem. People calling them loopholes makes it sound like they actually are doing something elicit. They are following the tax rules. It would be like calling a flea flicker for a TD a scoring loophole.
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
Getting back on track, my dad payed 12.5% of his 1.5mil income in 2020. I payed 29% of my, much lower income, in taxes.
Make that make sense.
Make that make sense.
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
This is only news if they all did something illegal. If not, then people should kindly fuck off.kalm wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 5:42 am Why would any 1%’er want a flat tax or care about the national debt when the current system is so damn equitable ( ) ?
https://www.propublica.org/article/the- ... income-taxIn 2007, Jeff Bezos, then a multibillionaire and now the world’s richest man, did not pay a penny in federal income taxes. He achieved the feat again in 2011. In 2018, Tesla founder Elon Musk, the second-richest person in the world, also paid no federal income taxes.
Michael Bloomberg managed to do the same in recent years. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn did it twice. George Soros paid no federal income tax three years in a row.
ProPublica has obtained a vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people, covering more than 15 years. The data provides an unprecedented look inside the financial lives of America’s titans, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg. It shows not just their income and taxes, but also their investments, stock trades, gambling winnings and even the results of audits.
To capture the financial reality of the richest Americans, ProPublica undertook an analysis that has never been done before. We compared how much in taxes the 25 richest Americans paid each year to how much Forbes estimated their wealth grew in that same time period.
We’re going to call this their true tax rate.
The results are stark. According to Forbes, those 25 people saw their worth rise a collective $401 billion from 2014 to 2018. They paid a total of $13.6 billion in federal income taxes in those five years, the IRS data shows. That’s a staggering sum, but it amounts to a true tax rate of only 3.4%.
It’s a completely different picture for middle-class Americans, for example, wage earners in their early 40s who have amassed a typical amount of wealth for people their age. From 2014 to 2018, such households saw their net worth expand by about $65,000 after taxes on average, mostly due to the rise in value of their homes. But because the vast bulk of their earnings were salaries, their tax bills were almost as much, nearly $62,000, over that five-year period
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
Did I? That’s awesome!
And I suppose I technically do have occasional dementia symptoms caused by my hepatic encephalopathy. Thanks for the crutch!
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
This is one of the big takeaways IMO.UNI88 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 2:31 pmThis isn't picking on me because it's a valid point. I would imagine that the tax code is filled with legal loopholes that most don't have the resources or income levels to take advantage of.89Hen wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 2:00 pm
Not really picking on you 88 but I think this actually is part of the problem. People calling them loopholes makes it sound like they actually are doing something elicit. They are following the tax rules. It would be like calling a flea flicker for a TD a scoring loophole.
And it’s not as if our tax structure isn’t heavily lobbied for.
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
You’re a wreck.
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
Look at it this way. At least now you may have a chance arguing against me...from time to time.
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
Rube.
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
Now you just sound like that effete western Washingtonian snob, Chizzang.
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
Who?
"Ah fuck. You are right." KYJelly, 11/6/12
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
Exactly.
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Re: Taxes are for sucks
Not me. I'm for deporting them to someplace where they have the opportunity to pull their weight.UNI88 wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 1:05 pmGannonFan wrote: ↑Fri Jun 18, 2021 12:52 pm
What was important here? That income taxes only tax *gulp* income? It's not like ProPublica was reporting on the Watergate break-in or something. We already know all of this - wealth isn't taxed directly. Income is taxed, but unrealized capital gains aren't income. Is water still wet? Is the Pope still Catholic? There are lots of other groundbreakingly obvious things ProPublica could be reporting on.
Was the person or persons who provided this information to ProPublica a whistleblower? Definition of whistleblower - a person who informs on a person or organization engaged in an illicit activity. Did these wealthy individuals do anything illicit? Or did they take advantage of existing tax loopholes?
Who really thinks that the answer is to raise taxes? The uber-wealthy will continue to find and take advantage of loopholes and the people who can't afford an army of accountants and tax attorneys will pay the higher taxes. Remove loopholes, simplify the tax system.
The best way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of opinion but allow very lively debate within that spectrum - Noam Chomsky