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I hate when they bring up Warren Buffett. He skirted the US tax laws for the majority of his life and now that he's older, he wants everyone to pay more in tax

I hate when they bring up Warren Buffett. He skirted the US tax laws for the majority of his life and now that he's older, he wants everyone to pay more in taxes. If he really cared, he would have fought for higher tax laws earlier in his life.

Karunamon 15y ago
It's not "skirting" if you're following the letter of the law. Regardless of how you feel about the man, he makes a valid point.
jcampbell1 15y ago
The capital gains rate was 28+% for much of that period. Buffett didn't start advocating for higher tax rates until after the Bush (and Clinton) tax cuts which slashed capital gains rates to 15%. Your position is as foolish as saying if Al Gore really cared about global warming, he would have been advocating for climate change policy during his college years.
blcArmadillo 15y ago
Agreed. Obama recently spoke at the university I attend. At one point in his speech he mentioned that Buffett's secretary told him that they have a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett. Then literally two minutes later in his speech he praised Warren Buffett for addressing the issue of needing to increase taxes on the wealthy. What a joke.
- drewblaisdell 15y ago
  I don't see the problem here. Warren Buffett pays the 15% capital gains tax and wants to see it increased. Are you criticizing him for not paying more than he is taxed?
  - adharmad 15y ago
    If its a good idea after the government makes a legislation, surely its a good idea even otherwise.
- deleted 15y ago
  [deleted]
po 15y ago
If he really cared, he would have fought for higher tax laws earlier in his life. I don't understand this kind of reasoning. He's arguing against his own self-interest now. I think it's hard to say he doesn't care. Maybe he didn't come to feel that he unfairly benefitted until he was older. It's not like he's saying we should tax young people more now that I'm old.
- paulhauggis 15y ago
  The point is that he's 81 now. He doesn't have many more years to spend his millions (or billions). A few more percentage points in taxes isn't really going to matter to him. It would have matter when he was much younger.
rprasad 15y ago
For the majority of his life, until the Tax Reform Act of 1986, Warren Buffet's "tax skirting" still meant paying more than 25% rates on his income. Effective tax rates (accounting for inflation) now are lower than they were at any time since 1913 (i.e., since we've had income taxes).

Karunamon 15y ago

It's not "skirting" if you're following the letter of the law. Regardless of how you feel about the man, he makes a valid point.

jcampbell1 15y ago

The capital gains rate was 28+% for much of that period. Buffett didn't start advocating for higher tax rates until after the Bush (and Clinton) tax cuts which slashed capital gains rates to 15%. Your position is as foolish as saying if Al Gore really cared about global warming, he would have been advocating for climate change policy during his college years.

blcArmadillo 15y ago

Agreed. Obama recently spoke at the university I attend. At one point in his speech he mentioned that Buffett's secretary told him that they have a higher tax rate than Warren Buffett. Then literally two minutes later in his speech he praised Warren Buffett for addressing the issue of needing to increase taxes on the wealthy. What a joke.

drewblaisdell 15y ago
I don't see the problem here. Warren Buffett pays the 15% capital gains tax and wants to see it increased. Are you criticizing him for not paying more than he is taxed?
- adharmad 15y ago
  If its a good idea after the government makes a legislation, surely its a good idea even otherwise.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]

po 15y ago

If he really cared, he would have fought for higher tax laws earlier in his life. I don't understand this kind of reasoning. He's arguing against his own self-interest now. I think it's hard to say he doesn't care. Maybe he didn't come to feel that he unfairly benefitted until he was older. It's not like he's saying we should tax young people more now that I'm old.

paulhauggis 15y ago
The point is that he's 81 now. He doesn't have many more years to spend his millions (or billions). A few more percentage points in taxes isn't really going to matter to him. It would have matter when he was much younger.

rprasad 15y ago

For the majority of his life, until the Tax Reform Act of 1986, Warren Buffet's "tax skirting" still meant paying more than 25% rates on his income. Effective tax rates (accounting for inflation) now are lower than they were at any time since 1913 (i.e., since we've had income taxes).