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The author either does not understand or chooses to ignore how taxes work. Buffet's wealth has increased, but the vast majority of that is held assets increasi
by jjk166 5y ago
The author either does not understand or chooses to ignore how taxes work.
Buffet's wealth has increased, but the vast majority of that is held assets increasing in value. If you have signed baseball card in your attic and something occurs to make the value of that card skyrocket, your personal wealth has increased but you don't owe any taxes on that increase. Eventually if you sell that item you'll owe taxes on the gains, but you are under no obligation to sell. Increase in value is not income, Buffett wasn't getting handed hundreds of millions in cash every month.
Buffet's wealth went up by 37% from 2014 to 2018. In the same time period the Dow Jones rose 49%. The difference is billions of dollars Buffett was giving away (had he kept the money instead of making donations his wealth would've risen 55% in that time period). Tax credits for philanthropic gifts are neither new nor malicious.