Posted on 10/10/2016 10:46:30 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
Billionaire investor Warren Buffett denied on Monday an allegation by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump that he, like Trump, had taken "a massive deduction" that allowed him to avoid federal income taxes.
Buffett said he paid about $1.85 million in income tax in 2015, and that returns for previous years were similar in respect to contributions, deductions and tax rates.
Buffett said he was being audited by the Internal Revenue Service, but had "no problem" releasing his tax information.
Trump has refused to release his tax returns, citing ongoing audits by the IRS.
"I have paid federal income tax every year since 1944, when I was 13," Buffett said in a statement, adding that "being a slow starter, I owed only $7 in tax that year."
Buffett, ranked the world's third-richest person by Forbes magazine, said he had copies of all 72 of his returns "and none uses a carryforward."
Responding to an Oct. 1 New York Times story, Trump acknowledged during the presidential-candidates' debate on Sunday that he had used investment losses to avoid paying taxes.
Trump repeatedly said he was only taking advantage of tax provisions used by wealthy people who support Clinton. "I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett ...", he said.
The Times reported that Trump's declared loss of $916 million in 1995 was so large that he could legally have avoided paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years.
Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N), said his 2015 tax return showed adjusted gross income of $11,563,931.
"My deductions totaled $5,477,694, of which allowable charitable contributions were $3,469,179. All but $36,037 of the remainder was for state income taxes," he said.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
That wasn’t much tax he paid isn’t he one of the wealthiest on earth?
Yea, its disgusting. But since just about every single Wall Street banker and hedge fund billionaire is lined up behind “champion of the little guy” Clinton I guess we should get used to hypocrisy.
Here is another question for Buffet. Two questions actually
Question #1
If you paid 1.8 million in taxes and that was less than your Administrative Assistant, how much do you pay your Administrative Assistant?
Question #2
When the job of Administrative Assistant comes open can you hire me at the same pay scale?
When I lived in HK I could make $300 to $1000 a day doing day trades of the HS Index of penny stocks. I had a spread sheet with lows and highs and volume of about 30 companies with stock prices of about fifty US cents. When one hit a low I’d buy it. Often times buying 10K shares of that stock would cause it to go up a penny or two. I’d sell the stock I’d just bought the previous hour at a profit. Hong Kong of course has no capital gains tax so it was easier to do there.
Does that make me a bad person?
Buffet lies for the arts so they will leave him alone. It IS that simple.
Buffet lies for the Rats so they will leave him alone. It IS that simple.
No, but the short sighted trading has led to the demise of long term wisdom in companies.
Buffett’s personal net worth is derived from his control of Berkshire Hathaway, a public company. To understand Buffett’s taxes you must look at Berkshire’s taxes as well as Warren’s Trump’s businesses are private and his business income is taxed as personal income. Comparing Warren’s personal return to Trump’s is like comparing apples and oranges.
To understand Buffett’s business taxes look at Berkshire. As of its 2015 annual report the company has $63 billion in deferred taxes on its balance sheet. These are taxes it reported in its financial statements over years but has not yet paid out. In 2015 Berkshire reported earnings of $210.8 billion and income before taxes of $35 billion. In Berkshire’s financial statements the company said its “hypothetical” federal tax bill, at the federal statutory rate, was $12.5 billion on the $35 billion in earnings. It reflected a tax expense of $10.5 billion on its income statement, a reduction of two billion due to various allowable deductions. It is notable the company’s actual cash payments to the government totaled $5.7 billion, not the hypothetical statutory taxes of $12.5 billion or the $10.5 billion tax expense it reported to its shareholders. No, Berkshire paid in cash $5.7 billion for its tax obligation because, like Trump’s business, it took full advantage of the tax code.
If the press were really interested in Buffett’s business interests journalists would ask Buffett about the $63 billion in deferred taxes on Berkshire’s balance sheet, an amount that grows every year. If Buffett is so concerned about corporations and individuals paying their fare share he is free to go ahead and pay the $63 billion. Instead, like Trump said, Buffett takes full advantage of every provision of the tax code to minimize and delay his business tax bill.
If we had real journalists they would be digging into Bershire’s returns and questioning Buffett about the differences between reported tax expense and actual taxes paid . A real journalist would also ask Buffett if he had been Trump in 1995, would he have reflected the $900 million loss as a deduction or would he have omitted the deduction and paid whatever taxes were owed.
It is ironic the $63 billion in deferred taxes reported on Berkshire’s balance sheet is many times Trump’s entire net worth.
Not his personal tax return.
Screw you Buffett you Democrat pig, you used the capital losses carryover many times so don’t tell us what is “massive” or play Bill Clinton word games or about 2015 you phony turd. And you support Hillary because she is just another giant kickback in crony capitalist profits for you and because you have a cut in the game when she goes to war with Russia and helps ISIS attack Russia because you got your hands in it and in looting Russian natural resources. We are sick of phony hedgefunds that pay for Chesea’s mansions in NYC and stop promising the Clinton’s you are going to pay for fixing Chelsea’s teeth.
All them Congress critters and Sinators enter poor and leave rich, ya know for the chillens ...
We had a Kirby we picked up at a garage sale. I maintained it for years with whatever I could get for parts that worked. It was multi colored. Along comes the Kirby cleaner/salesman to do a couple of rooms for me. So I let him do his thing and, when he started the sales pitch, I told him I already had a Kirby. He asked to see it and, when I pulled it out, I thought he was going to have a coronary. He wanted to know where I got it, and where I took it for maintenance. I told him that was none of his business and when his office set up the appointment no one asked if I had a Kirby. He was close to blowing a gasket when he left. So much four of Kirby. Funny thing, the next year I got another cleaning offer.
Buffet takes advantage of the same tax provisions as Trump to avoid paying taxes.
Where that write off winds up getting reported to the IRS is really not the issue, nor are the two men’s businesses or organizational structures directly comparable.
If Buffet were in Trump’s shoes he would have done the same thing.
Warren Buffett’s Nifty Tax Loophole
Warren Buffett has backed higher individual tax rates–while ensuring that his vast wealth in Berkshire Hathaway is almost immune.
http://www.barrons.com/articles/warren-buffetts-nifty-tax-loophole-1428726092
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Owes Taxes Going Back To 2002
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/29/warren-buffett-taxes-berkshire-hathaway_n_941099.html
Buffett’s Billions Can’t Buy Him Exemption From His Tax-Averse Past
Warren Buffett’s Tax Whopper
Obama’s business front man finances ‘corporate deserters.’
http://www.wsj.com/articles/warren-buffetts-tax-whopper-1409095917
Warren Buffet is your quintessential crony capitalist. He has no problem climbing into bed with a skank like HRC.
Buffett’s a domestic economic terrorist who needs to be droned big-time.
Whether or not Buffet has actually taken NOL carryover doesn’t matter, although he is welcome to release all of his returns and PROVE that. What you can guarantee is that he absolutely does structure his income stream and his taxes to avoid paying any more taxes than he absolutely has to. To think otherwise is is to believe that the guy who is supposed to be the smartest investor in history is dumb enough not to worry about his tax burden. Uh huh. Sure
Probably - was a old story about his secretary paying more taxes than him. Plus, he has a lot of stuff hidden away behind a lot of offshore "corporations"....
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