Several of the wealthiest people in America — including Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk — did not pay federal income tax in some years, according to a new report from ProPublica.
- “The results are stark,” ProPublica reported. “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%.”
What the report said
ProPublica reportedly reviewed 15 years' worth of data from the Internal Revenue Service and determined each wealthy person’s true tax rate by comparing how much they earned and how much they actually paid in taxes.
- Bezos paid $0 in federal income tax in both 2007 and 2011.
- Musk reportedly didn’t pay any income tax in 2018.
- Legendary investors Warren Buffett and Michael Bloomberg were also mentioned in the report, according to Yahoo News. “While Buffett and Bloomberg apparently paid some federal income tax, they exploited the tax code to pay very little,” according to New York magazine.
Any responses?
Buffett responded to the news in a statement, per New York magazine: “I continue to believe that the tax code should be changed substantially. I hope that the earned-income tax-credit is greatly expanded and additionally believe that huge dynastic wealth is not desirable for our society.”