In 2007, Jeff Bezos, then a multibillionaire and now the world's richest guy, did not pay a cent in federal income taxes. He achieved the accomplishment again in 2011. In 2018, Tesla founder Elon Musk, the second-richest individual worldwide, also paid no federal earnings taxes. Michael Bloomberg managed to do the same recently.
George Soros paid no federal earnings tax three years in a row. Source , Publica, the investigative newsroom, has acquired a huge trove of Irs information on the tax returns of thousands of the country's most affluent people, covering more than 15 years. The data supplies an unmatched look inside the financial lives of America's titans, consisting of Warren Buffett, Expense Gates, Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg.
Taken together, it destroys the foundation myth of the American tax system: that everyone pays their fair share and the richest Americans pay the most. The IRS records reveal that the wealthiest can perfectly legally pay income taxes that are only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of millions, if not billions, their fortunes grow each year.
Pro, Publica is a nonprofit newsroom that examines abuses of power. The Secret Internal Revenue Service Files is an ongoing reporting project. Sign up to be alerted when the next installment releases. Lots of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, collecting little wealth and paying the federal government a portion of their earnings that rises if they make more.
The highest income tax rate, 37%, started this year, for couples, on profits above $628,300. The personal tax records acquired by Pro, Publica reveal that the ultrarich efficiently avoid this system. America's billionaires get themselves of tax-avoidance techniques beyond the reach of common people. Their wealth stems from the skyrocketing worth of their assets, like stock and home.
laws as gross income unless and till the billionaires offer. To catch the financial reality of the wealthiest Americans, Pro, Publica carried out an analysis that has never been done prior to. We compared just how much in taxes the 25 richest Americans paid each year to how much Forbes estimated their wealth grew in that same period.