Buffett, Soros Join List of Billionaires Calling for Tax Hikes They Won’t Pay

[Stephanie]

links in article and video at site

SNIP:
By Matt Nesto | Breakout – 8 hours agoEmail0Share18PrintVideo Player ControlsPlay/Pause

Since Warren Buffett has once again entered the current debate over tax increases by calling for the federal estate tax to go up, it only seems fair to see how his latest round of proposed changes would actually impact him. Buffett is among America's super rich, and his fortune, at $46 billion, is second only to Microsoft founder Bill Gates'.

Prior to his latest call for the upward revision of the estate tax, the Berkshire Hathaway Chairman has also recently called for income, capital gains and dividend taxes to go up too, explaining in a widely discussed op-ed in The New York Times ("A Minimum Tax For The Wealthy") that higher tax rates over the years have had no bearing on investors like him.

As much as this may sound like selfless advice from a renowned financier who simply wants what's best for America, in reality he's immune from almost all of it. As I discuss with Aaron Brown, Risk Manager at AQR, in the attached video, Buffett's do-as-I-say, not-as-I-do proposals seem to fit the criteria needed to be a patriotic millionaire.

"I just got fed up. It wasn't just Warren Buffett. There's been a half dozen of these things lately, and what I noticed is everyone is asking for taxes to be raised except the taxes they actually pay," Brown told me on the sidelines of the Minyanville Festivus event.

So in that light, let's look at the gap that exists between proposed tax hikes and actual impact.

all of it here
Buffett, Soros Join List of Billionaires Calling for Tax Hikes They Won

 

[Staidhup]

So how much money in addition to taxes paid has Buffett, Soros, and Gates just given to the US department of treasury to help alleviate their sense of gluttonous guilt? Must be nice having to live the life of a billionaire.

 

[Dreamy]

Buffett is yet another arrogant Washington lobbyist.

 

[Stephanie]

these people think Buffet and Soros only have the good of the country in their hearts, they better THINK AGAIN...and that Obama IS using Buffet as a example for his policies..

we tried to tell you

 

[niteowl]

Actually, it's even worse than that. Take the estate tax, for instance: not only would an estate tax not impact Warren Buffett adversely, he stands to profit from it. When there is an estate tax, those people who are moderately wealthy (say, two or three million in assets), would stand to have confiscatory taxes levied on the inheritance; money that would have gone to the surviving spouse, and any children. Of course, the moderately wealthy cannot afford to hire a bevy of tax attorneys, or their own personal lobbyist the way Warren Buffett can, but one of the ways they can avoid inheritance taxes, is to invest in insurance. Particularly, Universal Life, which was developed for just that purpose. The idea is the policyholder would put down a large amount of cash up front, towards the value of the life insurance death benefit. When the policyholder dies, their spouse and/or children could inherit the money tax free, as insurance is not included in the calculation of inheritance. Thus, although it seems counter-intuitive, Warren Buffett would be in favor of estate taxes, because they would only increase his net worth. How many insurance companies does Buffett own?

From Wikipedia: List of assets owned by Berkshire Hathaway

So, his motivation is hardly self sacrifice; it's not even neutral. He stands to make a lot of money, by aiding moderately wealthy people to pay the same tax rate that he will pay (e.g., nothing!)

 

[Avatar4321]

Of course they are. They have to do everything they can to prevent people from gaining wealth and challenging their power.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

Oh....and another 4 percent gets tacked onto the 39.6 percent for Ocare. Good times.

 

[LordBrownTrout]

Buffet still owes the IRS a billion.

 

[Glensather]

Rich people not paying taxes?
Wow, that's like saying the sun rises in the east.