The United States' second-richest man has delivered a blunt message to the Bush administration: he wants to pay more tax.
Warren Buffett, the famous investor known as the "Sage of Omaha", has complained that he pays a lower rate of tax than any of his staff - including his receptionist. Mr Buffett, who is worth an estimated $52bn (£25bn), said: "The taxation system has tilted towards the rich and away from the middle class in the last 10 years. It's dramatic; I don't think it's appreciated and I think it should be addressed."
During an interview with NBC television, Mr Buffett brandished an informal survey of 15 of his 18 office staff at his Berkshire Hathaway empire. The billionaire said he was paying 17.7% payroll and income tax, compared with an average in the office of 32.9%.
"There wasn't anyone in the office, from the receptionist up, who paid as low a tax rate and I have no tax planning; I don't have an accountant or use tax shelters. I just follow what the US Congress tells me to do," he said.
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2 comments:
If the taxation system has tilted towards the rich and away from the middle class in the last 10 years...then are the parties really alike as stated in your previous post?
"I don't have an accountant or use tax shelters"...that is shocking.
Yes, they are.
This tilt hasn't just been in the last ten years.
Clinton tilted it back toward the middle class...a little. But I would be willing to bet a lot of money that Buffett paid lower tax rates than his staff under Clinton, too--just not as much less.
The difference between parties is not vast...it's a matter of degrees. Neither party can claim a moral high ground--both parties kiss the lobbyists' ass and do what they're told by the people who give them the tens of millions of dollars it takes to run a campaign. It's naive to think otherwise
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