DGS49
Diamond Member
- Apr 12, 2012
- 16,427
- 14,390
Report: Wealthiest executives paid little to nothing in federal income taxes
The information shows how billionaires are able to legally reduce their tax burden, highlighting how the American tax system can hit ordinary wage-earners harder than the richest people in the country.
www.post-gazette.com
So, seeing this headline I dove into the article, since it would be surprising to me if these wealthy people paid only a couple percent OF THEIR INCOMES in FIT. Then I get to...
"ProPublica analyzed the data by focusing on the soaring fortunes of the country’s wealthiest members in recent years and alleged they were paying a “true tax rate” of just 3.4%. The news organization came up with this rate by calculating estimates of the value of their stock portfolios and other assets and then how much they paid in federal income taxes. This is not how tax rates are normally measured[!]."
WTF? Not how tax rates are normally measured? Are you fucking kidding me?
So I guess that makes me one of those tax bandits. My stock portfolio went up by about $250k last year and I paid next to nothing in FIT. In fact, I didn't pay anything on my 401k (since I haven't started taking anything from it yet).
This is journalism? How much did these rich fukkers report in taxable income and how much did they pay? That would be interesting, and might even help to generate the resentment of financial success that is the objective of the article. But not as much resentment as this phony conclusion that they only paid 3 or 4% (of WHAT?).
But this is rubbish. The people who published this should be permanently banned from journalism.