[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Boston-Sean

I'm old enough to remember when Buffet would spout off non-stop about how the "rich" should pay more in taxes. Then Propublica got a dump of IRS data on the richest people in America. No more sermonizing from Buffet once this story got published:

No one among the 25 wealthiest avoided as much tax as Buffett, the grandfatherly centibillionaire. That’s perhaps surprising, given his public stance as an advocate of higher taxes for the rich. According to Forbes, his riches rose $24.3 billion between 2014 and 2018. Over those years, the data shows, Buffett reported paying $23.7 million in taxes.


Warren Buffett
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
2014-2018 Wealth Growth:
$24.3B
Total Income Reported:
$125M (0.51% of wealth)
Total Taxes Paid:
$23.7M (0.10% of wealth)
Note: Values in the graphic are rounded.
That works out to a true tax rate of 0.1%, or less than 10 cents for every $100 he added to his wealth.

The problem is the rich are able to buy enough congressman to make laws to help them avoid taxes. Term limits would be a good way to stop this.