1) He donated STOCK to those charities, not money. (begin sarcastic question) In which year did the gov’t allow people to pay their taxes in stock options?
2) As the 1st sentence in the article explained, he did it because he “pledge[d] to give the shares away.” So he’s simply doing what he said he’d do.
Typical liberal answer. Ignoring the absolute truth in Wayne Carter’s statement: Uncle Warren is beloved by liberals for saying we should have higher taxes and then when it comes time to anty up . . . he gives everything away to private charity instead. Proving he doesn’t believe the government needs the extra money or is good at using it.
And he could SELL the stocks and give the government cash. You can’t be that dense, so you must be disingenuous (for the 127th time).
Wayne, by also giving the stock options to charity, he has a huge write off on his taxes. He’ll probably also qualify for the earned income credit since he won’t pay a dime in taxes. (Sarcasm on the earned income credit) His tombstone will read, “Do as I say, not as I do.” (Sarcasm again.)
While I agree Buffett could pay more than his share of taxes by writing a check to the gov’t for more than he owed, I think your anger of “he’s not paying his fair share of taxes” is misguided.
Buffet paid nearly $1.9 million in federal income taxes in 2017, an effective federal income tax rate of about 16%. Buffett added, “I have paid federal income tax every year since 1944, when I was 13. (Though, being a slow starter, I owed only $7 in tax that year.) I have copies of all 72 of my returns and none uses a carryforward.”
If Buffett’s lack of sending more cash to the IRS than he already did is upsetting you, how about we look at other high-wealth high-visibility people and how they’ve handled disclosing how much they’ve paid to the IRS themselves?
Trump May 2014: “If I decide to run for office, I’ll produce my tax returns, absolutely,” he said. “And I would love to do that.”
Trump October 2015: “I’m thinking about maybe when we find out the true story on Hillary’s emails,” he said of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.”
Trump Jan 2016: Asked if he would release them publicly, Trump said, “we’re working on that now. … I have very big returns, as you know, and I have everything all approved and very beautiful and we’ll be working that over in the next period of time, Chuck,” Trump said. “Absolutely.””
Trump Feb 2016: “I’ve had it for years. I get audited. And obviously if I’m being audited, I’m not going to release a return,” he said. “As soon as the audit is done, I love it.”
Trump May 2016: “I would release my tax returns when audit is complete, not after election!” he tweeted about the interview.
Conway Jan 2107: “We litigated this all through the election. People didn’t care.”
Mulaney April 2019: When Mulvaney was questioned on Trump’s claims that the tax returns could not be released due to an audit, Mulvaney replied: “You could always allow people to see it”
So Buffett paid >$1M in taxes last year and is willing to show 44 years of his returns to support he’s paid his fare share of taxes.
Trump on the other hand not only refuses to disclose them for reasons his own White House Acting Chief of Staff says is not a real defense, but has clearly been inconsistent about his willingness to release his returns.
Trump never postured as some do-gooder by saying taxes should be higher. Buffett did exactly that, fooled millions into thinking he was serious, and then he ignored his big chance to walk the walk with his donations avoiding the government entirely.
And Buffett did NOT pay his fair share.
He chose to give himself a small salary when he knew income taxes were far higher than capital gains taxes. He could have chosen a much higher salary and paid his fair share (but then he knew he could fool millions of Americans into thinking he was a good guy instead by just talking).
July 3, 2019 at 2:20 pm
Bill says:
Well-loved. Like or Dislike:
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It’s stock he earned… he can do with it what he wants. If you are skilled enough to earn $3.6B (which you are probably not), then you can decide to give it to the govt if you’d like. Crazy that all you guys would criticize someone for donating their property to charity. What would Jesus do?
You can’t be that slow. Warren is a hypocrite, asking for higher taxes on others but giving all HIS money to private charity. He could give the money to the government and not wait for higher tax rates, but he doesn’t really believe in the government now, does he?
Baseless insults against someone who disagrees with you? Check
Generalized statements that completely disregard facts? Check
Assertions that you know more than everyone else? Check
Yep, that certainly was a craig response. I may be slow but at least I’m not a boring sad old man with nothing to do but yell at people on the internet. You are pathetic, sir!
Craig, I am not sure how giving money to a specific charity makes Buffet a hypocrite on his views of the tax rate. Apples and oranges. Yes, he could give the money to the Gov’t but he had a specific purpose in mind for a portion of his money. Additionally, I don’t think you could parlay charitable giving into “doesn’t really believe in the government”. It’s okay not to like him but you’re stretching this one into a bit of fake news my friend.
Interestingly, Buffet used to ask each stockholder to give Berkshire Hathaway the name and address of a 501.c.3 charity/nonprofit organization of their choice, for which he donated money in the stockholder’s name, in lieu of dividends. I believe it became too unwieldy to check the 501.c.3 status and process the multitude of not-for-profit organizations his stockholders wished to contribute to. Shame on those who cynically criticize his goodwill.
I’m confused. Sending billions to charitable foundations is a bad thing? It gives him a tax break, but isn’t that what the law was intended to do? If you help charitable organizations, you get a deduction. This is why most athletes have a non-profit organization to pay for sick kids, college educations, or whatever. The tax break is beneficial to them, but the charitable contribution is more beneficial as it is helping someone who would not be helped otherwise. The kid that cannot go to college because his dad was killed in the line of duty gets a full scholarship from some football player he’s never heard of. The football player gets a tax deduction. Which helps the nation more, the kid who will now be educated and able to pay his/her share of taxes in the future, or giving the money to the Govt. to spend on researching whether or not squirrels can reproduce while on LSD?
The kid with the education should make more money than he/she would without college, therefore, paying more taxes. I see donating to charity as a win-win in most cases. I cannot afford to donate a lot, but donate to a children’s cancer fund here in my city. It helps (mildly) at tax time, but it makes me feel good to do it and it is a well run organization. Maybe I’m slow, but I’ve never heard anyone say giving to a charitable cause is a bad thing. I thought it was the Christian thing to do?
Good ol’ Smoov! Like I said, one of the last true bastions of reason who posts on this board.
Unfortunately, it comes down to the “us vs them” mentality which has infected so many in this country (and on this board). Buffett is a “liberal” which makes him the enemy of anyone who votes Republican, despite the fact that giving billions to charity is a GOOD thing. If someone on the left is NOT someone who votes Republican’s enemy, that person who votes Republican is known as a “RINO.” Anyone disagreeing with anyone else on the right is henceforth branded as a “left-wing Progressive Liberal.” Anyone disagreeing with anyone else on the left is known as a “Conservative Wing Nut.” There’s no civility anymore or middle ground, it’s “”We disagree and therefore you’re my enemy!!!” and that’s it.
The bottom line is that there are people out there who seem to exist solely to try to make others miserable, which says more about them than their targets. Really is a shame. Life’s way too damn short to get mad at people we’ve never met over things we can’t change.
Good old Uncle Warren, the funds bundler for the lefty’s. He got substantial tax breaks for years with Obama for Berkshire Hathaway and has a small legion of tax lawyers on the payroll.
I agree Warren got substantial tax breaks, as do all the uber-wealthy in our country.
However, do you have any idea what the Koch brothers paid, or Harold Simmons, or Paul Singerk, or Sheldon Adelson, or Foster Friess or Robert Mercer?
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-warren-buffett-donation-20190701-story.html So he has had some tax breaks, but he’s given 34 Billion to charity since 2006 with the remainder of his money to be allocated to other charitable foundations within ten years of his death. He will have then donated over $100 Billion to charity. Someone above gave me a thumbs down for saying giving to charity is a good thing? lol Who cares if the guy is a Democrat or Republican if his money is going to the help people in need? I bet it’s the same guy who claimed Bill Gates charity wasn’t ‘valid’ because it helped out Africa more than the USA a few years ago here. C’mon. It’s charity. Are people really this ignorant and hateful? The one thing I thought we could all agree on would be donating money is not a bad thing. What’s next? I think we should argue over something worthy, you know, like whether or not Trump’s wife is too good for him. I voted for Trump, but she deserves better. (Ha. This should rile some feathers)
Maybe he could donate the money, as a charity, to the US Treasury, since we’re a broke country anyway, and instruct them to apply the monies to delinquent income taxes…………
Why does anyone who has delinquent taxes deserve to be bailed out by Warren for no good reason? Also, why “monies” – it’s “money.” Monies is used when there is more than one currency in question.
If he is a big believer in higher taxes for the wealthiest of Americans, why doesn’t he give it to the US Treasury?
Probably because the funds would not be used it appropriately.
1) He donated STOCK to those charities, not money. (begin sarcastic question) In which year did the gov’t allow people to pay their taxes in stock options?
2) As the 1st sentence in the article explained, he did it because he “pledge[d] to give the shares away.” So he’s simply doing what he said he’d do.
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Wayne, by also giving the stock options to charity, he has a huge write off on his taxes. He’ll probably also qualify for the earned income credit since he won’t pay a dime in taxes. (Sarcasm on the earned income credit) His tombstone will read, “Do as I say, not as I do.” (Sarcasm again.)
While I agree Buffett could pay more than his share of taxes by writing a check to the gov’t for more than he owed, I think your anger of “he’s not paying his fair share of taxes” is misguided.
Buffet paid nearly $1.9 million in federal income taxes in 2017, an effective federal income tax rate of about 16%. Buffett added, “I have paid federal income tax every year since 1944, when I was 13. (Though, being a slow starter, I owed only $7 in tax that year.) I have copies of all 72 of my returns and none uses a carryforward.”
If Buffett’s lack of sending more cash to the IRS than he already did is upsetting you, how about we look at other high-wealth high-visibility people and how they’ve handled disclosing how much they’ve paid to the IRS themselves?
Trump May 2014: “If I decide to run for office, I’ll produce my tax returns, absolutely,” he said. “And I would love to do that.”
Trump October 2015: “I’m thinking about maybe when we find out the true story on Hillary’s emails,” he said of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.”
Trump Jan 2016: Asked if he would release them publicly, Trump said, “we’re working on that now. … I have very big returns, as you know, and I have everything all approved and very beautiful and we’ll be working that over in the next period of time, Chuck,” Trump said. “Absolutely.””
Trump Feb 2016: “I’ve had it for years. I get audited. And obviously if I’m being audited, I’m not going to release a return,” he said. “As soon as the audit is done, I love it.”
Trump May 2016: “I would release my tax returns when audit is complete, not after election!” he tweeted about the interview.
Conway Jan 2107: “We litigated this all through the election. People didn’t care.”
Mulaney April 2019: When Mulvaney was questioned on Trump’s claims that the tax returns could not be released due to an audit, Mulvaney replied: “You could always allow people to see it”
So Buffett paid >$1M in taxes last year and is willing to show 44 years of his returns to support he’s paid his fare share of taxes.
Trump on the other hand not only refuses to disclose them for reasons his own White House Acting Chief of Staff says is not a real defense, but has clearly been inconsistent about his willingness to release his returns.
edit:
So Buffett paid nearly $2M in taxes in 2017 and is willing to show 72 years of his returns to support he’s paid his fare share of taxes.
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
It’s stock he earned… he can do with it what he wants. If you are skilled enough to earn $3.6B (which you are probably not), then you can decide to give it to the govt if you’d like. Crazy that all you guys would criticize someone for donating their property to charity. What would Jesus do?
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Those damn liberals, supporting charities! You guys are stretching a bit, get real.
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Baseless insults against someone who disagrees with you? Check
Generalized statements that completely disregard facts? Check
Assertions that you know more than everyone else? Check
Yep, that certainly was a craig response. I may be slow but at least I’m not a boring sad old man with nothing to do but yell at people on the internet. You are pathetic, sir!
Craig, I am not sure how giving money to a specific charity makes Buffet a hypocrite on his views of the tax rate. Apples and oranges. Yes, he could give the money to the Gov’t but he had a specific purpose in mind for a portion of his money. Additionally, I don’t think you could parlay charitable giving into “doesn’t really believe in the government”. It’s okay not to like him but you’re stretching this one into a bit of fake news my friend.
Interestingly, Buffet used to ask each stockholder to give Berkshire Hathaway the name and address of a 501.c.3 charity/nonprofit organization of their choice, for which he donated money in the stockholder’s name, in lieu of dividends. I believe it became too unwieldy to check the 501.c.3 status and process the multitude of not-for-profit organizations his stockholders wished to contribute to. Shame on those who cynically criticize his goodwill.
I’m confused. Sending billions to charitable foundations is a bad thing? It gives him a tax break, but isn’t that what the law was intended to do? If you help charitable organizations, you get a deduction. This is why most athletes have a non-profit organization to pay for sick kids, college educations, or whatever. The tax break is beneficial to them, but the charitable contribution is more beneficial as it is helping someone who would not be helped otherwise. The kid that cannot go to college because his dad was killed in the line of duty gets a full scholarship from some football player he’s never heard of. The football player gets a tax deduction. Which helps the nation more, the kid who will now be educated and able to pay his/her share of taxes in the future, or giving the money to the Govt. to spend on researching whether or not squirrels can reproduce while on LSD?
The kid with the education should make more money than he/she would without college, therefore, paying more taxes. I see donating to charity as a win-win in most cases. I cannot afford to donate a lot, but donate to a children’s cancer fund here in my city. It helps (mildly) at tax time, but it makes me feel good to do it and it is a well run organization. Maybe I’m slow, but I’ve never heard anyone say giving to a charitable cause is a bad thing. I thought it was the Christian thing to do?
Good ol’ Smoov! Like I said, one of the last true bastions of reason who posts on this board.
Unfortunately, it comes down to the “us vs them” mentality which has infected so many in this country (and on this board). Buffett is a “liberal” which makes him the enemy of anyone who votes Republican, despite the fact that giving billions to charity is a GOOD thing. If someone on the left is NOT someone who votes Republican’s enemy, that person who votes Republican is known as a “RINO.” Anyone disagreeing with anyone else on the right is henceforth branded as a “left-wing Progressive Liberal.” Anyone disagreeing with anyone else on the left is known as a “Conservative Wing Nut.” There’s no civility anymore or middle ground, it’s “”We disagree and therefore you’re my enemy!!!” and that’s it.
The bottom line is that there are people out there who seem to exist solely to try to make others miserable, which says more about them than their targets. Really is a shame. Life’s way too damn short to get mad at people we’ve never met over things we can’t change.
Again, KEEP UP YOUR GOOD FIGHT, SMOOV!
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
I agree Warren got substantial tax breaks, as do all the uber-wealthy in our country.
However, do you have any idea what the Koch brothers paid, or Harold Simmons, or Paul Singerk, or Sheldon Adelson, or Foster Friess or Robert Mercer?
https://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-warren-buffett-donation-20190701-story.html So he has had some tax breaks, but he’s given 34 Billion to charity since 2006 with the remainder of his money to be allocated to other charitable foundations within ten years of his death. He will have then donated over $100 Billion to charity. Someone above gave me a thumbs down for saying giving to charity is a good thing? lol Who cares if the guy is a Democrat or Republican if his money is going to the help people in need? I bet it’s the same guy who claimed Bill Gates charity wasn’t ‘valid’ because it helped out Africa more than the USA a few years ago here. C’mon. It’s charity. Are people really this ignorant and hateful? The one thing I thought we could all agree on would be donating money is not a bad thing. What’s next? I think we should argue over something worthy, you know, like whether or not Trump’s wife is too good for him. I voted for Trump, but she deserves better. (Ha. This should rile some feathers)
yo, Smoov–
YOU. ARE. THE. MAN. have a great 4th!
Maybe he could donate the money, as a charity, to the US Treasury, since we’re a broke country anyway, and instruct them to apply the monies to delinquent income taxes…………
Why does anyone who has delinquent taxes deserve to be bailed out by Warren for no good reason? Also, why “monies” – it’s “money.” Monies is used when there is more than one currency in question.