In May 2024, American billionaire investor Warren Buffett remarked, “If you don’t like paying taxes, make billionaires pay their fair share and you would never have to pay taxes again.”
A video circulating on Reddit on May 13, 2024, showcased Warren Buffett stating that if billionaires paid their taxes fairly, it could alleviate the burden on others. The posts have gone viral on social media.
However, a closer look at the full transcript is providing more context. Buffett wasn’t talking about billionaires paying their fair share in taxes. However, he did say that the top 800 in the U.S. companies should pay their taxes and argued that if they did, no other person would have to pay federal taxes, including income or estate taxes or social security.
He expressed contentment in contributing these taxes as a form of gratitude towards the US government, which he described as “generous” to the owners of his company. “We are content with paying taxes at Berkshire, currently at a 21% federal rate on our Apple gains. This rate has fluctuated over time, reaching 35% in the past and even 52% during certain periods of operation. The government holds a portion of our business earnings, not the assets, and has the authority to adjust this share annually,” Buffet said.
He added, “We think it’s appropriate that a company, a country that’s been as been as generous to our owners, it’s been the place… . I was lucky. Berkshire was lucky, was here. If we send in a check like we did last year, we sent in over $5 billion to the US federal government.”
Upon scrutinizing the transcript, it was revealed that Warren Buffett did not mention the term “billionaire” during the meeting. The analysis also highlighted that the video clip lacked crucial context. Buffett’s discussion actually revolved around the taxes Berkshire Hathaway had to pay on the sale of Apple stock, a topic previously covered in March 2024.
He continued, “Present fiscal policies suggest a likelihood of increased taxes, allowing the government to claim a larger portion of our, or Berkshire’s, income. We anticipate the potential for higher federal taxes at Berkshire, as we aim to contribute significantly to federal income taxes.”
“And if 800 other companies had done the same thing, no other person in the United States would have had to pay a dime of federal taxes, whether income taxes, no Social Security taxes, no estate taxes, no… . It’s open down the line,” he continued.
“Now… That’s… I would like to… I hope things develop well enough with Berkshire that we say we’re in the 800 club and maybe even move up a few notches. It doesn’t bother me in the least to write that check. I would really hope, with all America has done for all of you, it shouldn’t bother you that we do it,” Buffet said.
“And if I’m doing it at 21% this year and we’re doing it at a higher percentage later on, I don’t think you’ll actually mind the fact that we sold a little Apple this year,” he concluded.
According to Iowa’s News Now, if the top 800 US companies paid taxes at the same rate as Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, it could generate over $2 trillion in tax revenue, potentially covering a significant portion of the country’s fiscal deficit and revenue requirements.
Richard
May 18, 2024 at 3:38 am
Exactly
Richard
May 18, 2024 at 3:48 am
People are working hard. But they need to realize just how wealthy the top corporations & their executives are. Their money dictates all.
TERRY DOUGLAS GOSNELL
May 18, 2024 at 7:28 am
I THINK THAT ALL THE OTHER 799 ARE THINKING WHAT A FOOL BUFFETT IS! NOT ME BUDDY, I’M GOING TO KEEP MINE!!!
Stucco
May 18, 2024 at 10:56 pm
Yes, if 800 companies paid $5 billion in taxes you could collect $4 trillion dollars in tax revenue, (which is slightly less than all taxes collected by the federal government in 2023.)
The trouble is there are not 800 companies like Berkshire Hathaway.
Berkshire is a huge company. Berkshire has a market capitalization (the total shareholder value) of approx. 800 billion. (In the top ten of the largest companies.)
The total shareholder value of all companies (both public and private) in the US, is approximately 56 trillion.
Therefore the most number of companies you can have similar to Berkshire’s size is
70 = 56 trillion/800 billion. (not anywhere close to 800 companies sited by Buffett)
Digging a little further, when Buffett sites the $5 billion in taxes paid, it probably refers to the capital gains tax paid on the Apple investment, there are more taxes paid by Berkshire besides this.
From Berkshire Hathaway’s 10-K filed with the SEC:
In 2023 Berkshire Hathaway had 364 billion in revenue, 75 billion in investment gains,
321 billion in costs and expenses, and reported earnings of 118 billion.
Berkshire paid 23 billion in taxes in 2023.
So if 70 companies paid 23 billion each in taxes, the tax revenue would come to 1,610 billion, or 1.6 trillion, not close to the $4 trillion needed.
Note that the theoretical 1.6 trillion in corporate tax is approx. 4 times the amount of 400 billion actually collected in corporate taxes.
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