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Yes of course - the scam is he locks up the value of his assets in the price of his stock... loss carryovers and depreciation deductions and pays the rest at low long term gain rates...

I don't know the full complexities of the tax code, and I'm sure he has plenty of shady stuff going on. But the loss carryover isn't really shady, it's lost money that he actually lost. Not just numbers on paper. And as much as I think tax code needs to change, removing that from the code as it stands now will do way more damage to small businesses and individuals than the amount it's currently helping the billionaires. Depreciation is just stupid as well.

thus he doesn’t have to pay taxes on that income and it is built up instead in the value of his shares - pretty slick - he could certainly pay lots more if he were really concerned about “fairness” in the tax code......

This isn't a scam, owning something that increases in value isn't income. When he does cash out, he'll be taxed on that actual income. I don't think people should be taxed on their land property either.

I have no problem with the tax code - it doesn't bother me that Buffett uses the code to the max - my complaint is that having used it, he turns around and self-righteously proclaims that he doesn't pay enough taxes, that his tax bill is less than his "secretary's" (really a highly-paid administrator) and that the rich in general should be paying more of "their fair share" (even though the top 1% of earners pay 40% of the federal income tax, easily more than their "fair share") - it's deceitful, done to help Buffett shield himself from criticism from the public who resent the rich - if he wants to pay lower taxes, he should just abandon some of the tax breaks he takes.

When an asset is held as an investment and increases in value, and is then cashed out (sold), tax is owed on the difference between the purchase and the sale prices - if the asset is held for less than a year in most cases this is considered a short-term gain and is taxed at ordinary income rates - if held for more than year it is a long term gain and is taxed at a considerably lower rate than ordinary income - this is another place where Buffett probably uses the tax code to his advantage - by keeping assets locked up in his shares for years and years he undoubtedly pays taxes on the sales of the shares at long term rates - then turns around and complains about it.....