Warren Buffett released what he said was his adjusted gross income last year.
CNN Money reports that in a letter to Republican Rep. Tim Huelskamp Buffett reveals that he made $62,855,038 last year. He also said his taxable income was $39,814,784.
According to Reuters, the world’s third-richest man paid only $6.9 million in federal income taxes. That’s 17.4 percent of his entire taxable income. Still, that’s presumably higher than some others. It was recently reported that 1,400 millionaires paid no income tax at all in 2009.
Huelskamp had asked Buffett to release his entire income tax return after President Obama introduced the so-called « Buffett rule » tax increase. The rule is designed to stop millionaires from enjoying lower tax rates on what they earn from investments than what middle-class tax payers pay on their wages, according to the AP. Buffett has claimed that the ultra-wealthy can and should pay more in taxes and that the government should be laying claim to a larger share of his income.
In response, Huelskamp wrote to Buffett:
“The simplest way to substantiate your claim is to publicly disclose your tax returns as soon as possible so that policymakers, and the American people who elect them, can properly determine their veracity. »
Buffett has said he would comply with Huelskamp’s request if other high-earners do the same, according to CNN Money.
Buffett previously called on the government to take more of his and other high-earners’ money in a NYT op-ed:
« OUR leaders have asked for ‘shared sacrifice.’ But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched, » Buffett wrote.
Buffett goes on to suggest that his « mega-rich friends » are happy to be taxed more. When Salon recently contacted the country’s 400 wealthiest people, only 12 responded, but 8 of those 12 said they would be willing to pay more in taxes, with one maybe.
Buffett has been known to give a sizable portion of his income to charity, putting special emphasis on efforts to end hunger in Africa.
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