Bezos, Bloomberg, Buffett, Musk Went Years Paying $0 Income Taxes—Biden’s Plan Would Close Some Loopholes But Many Others Would Remain & Need Closing
(WASHINGTON) – Today, ProPublica released a blockbuster report showing that billionaires go years without paying any federal income taxes, and when they do pay, the bill is a smaller fraction of their income than that of middle-income homeowners. This report is further evidence to an already towering pile of the need for President Biden’s tax reforms and others beyond them.
The story revealed that the richest people in America — including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla and SpaceX head Elon Musk, media giant Mike Bloomberg, investor Warren Buffett — have in several recent years paid zero federal income taxes, even as their wealth grew by leaps and bounds. In other years they paid only a tiny fraction of the increase in their fortunes.
“If you paid income taxes in recent years, you likely did so at much higher rates than the richest man on the planet, who is on the brink of blasting into space on his own rocket ship,” said Frank Clemente, executive director of Americans for Tax Fairness. “Today’s bombshell report revealed how America’s billionaires rigged the rules to pay very little and, in some cases nothing, in federal income taxes even as their wealth skyrocketed in recent years. Fortunately, President Biden has proposed to make the wealthy, and the corporations they own, begin paying their fair share of taxes to pay for his jobs and investment plans to build back better. Unfortunately, Congressional Republicans have been determined to maintain a rigged system that lets America’s richest corporations and billionaires off the hook while sticking working families with the bill. Change needs to happen now.”
A detailed set of options for ensuring the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes proposed by President Biden, Americans for Tax Fairness and others can be found here. ATF’s analysis of Biden’s jobs, tax and investment plans is here. ATF’s report showing billionaire wealth has grown by 55%, or by $1.6 trillion, during the first 13 months of the pandemic is here.
Here’s how the super-rich can dodge paying much if anything in federal income taxes each year while working families pay their fair share:
Leave a Reply