Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
So, Warren Buffet is one of the richest men in the world. He pays 17% in taxes. His Secretary and Housekeeper pay 30% in taxes. He doesn't do anything special to try to avoid paying taxes, either.
Obama wants to lower the taxes of Buffet's Secretary and Housekeeper and raise Buffet's taxes.
McCain wants to lower the taxes of Buffet's Secretary a little bit but probably not his Housekeeper's. He also wants to lower Buffet's taxes even more.
Most of the people who post here are probably much closer to the Secretary's income than Buffet's.
Very rich CEOs are the ones who behaved so recklessly that it caused our economy to crash. The taxpayers had to bail them out. So, if we elect John McCain the middle class is going to be paying almost twice as much to bail those rich CEOs out than the CEO's will have to pay in taxes to clean up their own dirty mess. If we elect Obama then the CEOs will be held accountable for cleaning up their own damn mess.
How any Middle Class person could vote for McCain after knowing this is honestly beyond me.
Like most US based multinational companies, Buffet's companies use tax shelters and offshore tax havens to avoid taxes. Many of America's largest companies pay almost no taxes on their huge earnings. And McCain wants to give them more tax breaks.
that's funny, 17% isn't even a tax bracket. and if his tax bracket was low, he wouldn't be effected since he would be under 250k, which i highly doubt. lol. i love people who don't know anything about tax law but can make all sorts of edumicated comments on it. even half a*ss journalists!
Like most US based multinational companies, Buffet's companies use tax shelters and offshore tax havens to avoid taxes. Many of America's largest companies pay almost no taxes on their huge earnings. And McCain wants to give them more tax breaks.
Read the article...Buffet paid only 17% WITHOUT attempting in any way to avoid paying taxes. He thinks it is wrong that in American his Housekeeper and Secretary have to pay a higher tax rate than he does. He certainly doesn't stand to gain anything by saying that...in fact, he would stand to lose if it were changed. That tells me that he is being honest about it.
you too have fallen into the oracle of omaha's web. as usual, the little guy — not the rich guy — is the one who’s going to get hurt... this is another scheme, like the ponzi bailout scheme, offering to help the middle class. for example, Warren Buffett gave part of his fortune (just $30 billion) to the Gates Foundation, which could make this money grow faster than the legally required distributions from his portfolio. So Buffet gets a big-time tax deduction while the Gates Foundation only has to commit to distributing 5 percent of the $30 billion to charitable entities every year. Why don’t billionaires like Buffet just give their money to the needy now, or step up to the plate and pay their estate taxes today if they are so charity-minded? Apparently they speak out of both sides of their mouths: They avoid tax payments by donating to tax-exempt foundations, and then endorse higher tax rates on the little guy. (Buffet and Gates, if you haven’t heard, are both pro-estate tax.).
that's funny, 17% isn't even a tax bracket. and if his tax bracket was low, he wouldn't be effected since he would be under 250k, which i highly doubt. lol. i love people who don't know anything about tax law but can make all sorts of edumicated comments on it. even half a*ss journalists!
Buffet is the 3rd richest man in the world. I'm confident he knows more about money than most people. If you make under 500,000 you are Upper Middle Class. If you make under 250,000 a year you are Middle Class. If you make under 100,000 you are Lower Middle Class to Worker Class. Under 50,000 you are on the lower end of the Working Class to poor. There are a lot of Working Class people who believe they are Middle Class and a lot of Middle Class who think they are rich.
I'm pretty sure that the AMT is still around 25%. Therefore, either Buffett is using some shifty accounting tricks to get around paying taxes, or he's lying about the effect of Obama's tax plan.
By the way, he could pay more taxes than he owes if he wants to. There's nothing stopping him.
Buffet is the 3rd richest man in the world. I'm confident he knows more about money than most people. If you make under 500,000 you are Upper Middle Class. If you make under 250,000 a year you are Middle Class. If you make under 100,000 you are Lower Middle Class to Worker Class. Under 50,000 you are on the lower end of the Working Class to poor. There are a lot of Working Class people who believe they are Middle Class and a lot of Middle Class who think they are rich.
mr. buffett's taxable income of $46 million represents a mere 0.1 percent of his reported net worth of over $50 billion. That is not an impressive rate of return! why so low?
1. hold stocks that pay minimal dividends.
2. avoid realizing capital gains.
3. hold some of their portfolios in tax-free municipal bonds.
4. the above mentioned charity switch off, getting a deduction for the current market value without ever having to realize and pay tax on the capital gain.
raising tax rates, as buffett says that we should do, would not much affect any of his tax avoidance strategies. even if tax rates were raised substantially, he still wouldn't be paying much in taxes as a proportion of his wealth or as a proportion of his true income, unlike the rest of us!
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
