Warren Buffett responds to Donald Trump’s tax comments
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett spoke during a May 2 interview with Liz Claman on the Fox Business Network in Omaha, Neb. In a statement released Monday, Buffett said he’s never used the kind of tax deduction Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump employed and he reiterated his call for the GOP nominee to release his tax returns.
OMAHA, Neb. » Investor Warren Buffett says he’s never used the kind of tax deduction that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump did, and Buffett says he’s paid taxes every year for 72 years.
Buffett sent out a statement Monday responding to Trump’s comments during Sunday’s debate when Trump confirmed using a $916 million loss in 1995 to avoid paying federal income taxes.
Buffett also released details of his own taxes and reiterated his call for Trump to release his tax returns. Buffett is a longtime supporter of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
“I have been audited by the IRS multiple times and am currently being audited,” Buffett said. “I have no problem in releasing my tax information while under audit. Neither would Mr. Trump – at least he would have no legal problem.”
Buffett reported an adjusted gross income of $11,563,931 in 2015. The billionaire said his return included $5,477,694 of deductions, but tax laws kept him from claiming most of his $2,858,057,970 charitable gifts as deductions.
Buffett said he paid $1,845,557 in federal income taxes last year.
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“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,)” he said.
Buffett, who is Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman and CEO, said he has never used the kind of loss carryforward that Trump employed when he claimed $916 million in losses in 1995. That loss may have allowed Trump to avoid paying federal taxes for several years.
58 responses to “Warren Buffett responds to Donald Trump’s tax comments”
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Any candidate for POTUS should be required to show that he has filed his income tax returns. Each and every year, responsible American citizens file their income tax returns as required by law.
His excuse that he will provide copies of his returns after his IRS audit is completed is completely without merit. Excuses and disasters, excuses and disasters.
The Clinton Foundation should be investigated by the FBI. President Trump will make it happen. Lock her up.
The Chump is a damn crook and cheat.
What is Crooked Hilliary? No kidding, Crooked Hiliary was right when she said her supporters are inane.
We’re not a third world dictatorship where we threaten lock up our political rivals. Many Trump supporters don’t seem to understand how the constitution works.
If you did even the minimal of reading or had a modicum of understanding on political systems, you would realize that what you are suggesting is the model of banana republics–where they incarcerate or murder political rivals.
Further, the President can only direct the AG to make an inquiry into matters, it is the exclusive call of the AG to make a determination of whether a special prosecutor is needed. Read my friend, a mind is a terrible thing to waste…..
You’d better hope Herr Donald doesn’t get elected. Based on your writing, you could very well be the type of person such a dictator would send to the “showers.”
Insist on seeing his tax returns, and don’t change the subject.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2016/10/when_muslims_complain_about_islamophobia.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=facebook
Many people insisted on Obama showing his birth certificate to prove he was born in the U.S., but he refused to do so and was supported by Democrats for not doing so. He finally showed it, but it was three years into his presidency. So why should Trump show his tax returns?
Because Ron every presidential candidate since Nixon has released their tax returns. They have not released all past correspondence they have had with everyone,
I am sorry that you are going be so disappointed either way, especially if he wins. He will take our country back 50 years and there will be so much hate that will destroy our country.
We are already distroying our country. All you have to do is look at our choices for president to know that.
Actually Hillary is not a bad choice for president. The Donald along with all the other republican candidates are. What the hell has happened to the republican party where they don’t even have one decent candidate for president?
agree. Buffett is the real deal and I wish he were running for President. His generosity, unlike trump’s, is genuine and extensive. He is a bog supporter of early education for children. Trump is total shibai. Please expect some bombshell to be exposed when his taxes are finally examined. This guy is not in any way clean in his business dealings.
I agree that Warren Buffett would make a good president but he is doing so much good right where he is. Trump has no right to compare himself to a great man when he is just a megalomaniac and nut case.
allie–can you spell Keystone Pipeline??? $$$$ talks.
My people are holding this project up. They will need to move the pipeline out of that area. But as to Trump the phony, where can we move him out to?
Read the US Constitution and then tell me and other readers why any candidate for POTUS should be required to show they have filed income tax returns, birth certificates, proof of residency in the US, academic records or medical records. These are the kinds of things that both Democrats and Republicans have been demanding of candidates, but there is no Constitutional requirement that they do so.
Aside from the gigantic issue of his failure to pay his fair share of federal taxes, and an equally compelling reason that we must demand to see his taxes is the nature of his partnerships. To be specific, most people don’t realize that Trump has not been able to obtain traditional loans from mainstream banking in over a decade (when you have billions in bankruptcy and uber litigious, banks tend to dislike lending to you) and most of his business endeavors are via rather opaque and complex business partnerships.
These partnerships include international partners, global financiers, foreign politicians and even criminals. In short, Trump has many conflict of interests with America’s national security interests and they cannot be resolved so long as he or any member of his family maintains a financial interest in the Trump Organization–even if they leave open the possibility of returning to the company later. The Trump Organization cannot be placed into a blind trust, an arrangement used by many politicians to prevent them from knowing their financial interests; the Trump family is already aware of who their overseas partners are and could easily divulge these politically divergent partners, but choose not to name them.
That is what I was wondering too. If he ever became the president how would he separate his business conflicts of interest.
He (Trump) is absolutely wrong when he says he would place his business in a blind trust and let his children run/manage the business–that’s almost the exact opposite of a blind trust.
Just as troubling is the myriad of foreign partnerships that are undisclosed, all of which, have legal and fiduciary obligations to all its foreign partners…..
Most Presidents with extensive business holdings place them in blind trusts during the term of their presidency. I guess it’s wait and see.
Donna Brazile, the current head of the Democratic National Committee, appears to have tipped the Clinton campaign off to a question about the death penalty that was going to be asked during a CNN town hall in March, newly released emails show.
“From time to time I get the questions in advance,” Brazile wrote in an email to Clinton campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri on March 12.
Brazile, who was a CNN contributor at the time of the email, went on to ask Palmieri about Clinton’s stance on the death penalty.
“Here’s one that worries me about HRC,” wrote Brazile in the email, which was released on Tuesday by Wikileaks. The emails come from the Gmail account of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2016/10/11/revealed-donna-brazile-shared-cnn-town-hall-questions-with-clinton-camp/#ixzz4MoucLNeZ
While that’s true, they don’t place the blind trust in the management hands of their children, which defeats the entire purpose of a blind trust.
Maybe a record of all the US banking institutions that have continued to underwrite Trump developments despite his multiple bankruptcies and lawsuits would be interesting reading. The one thing that needs to be really looked at is the fact that he was able to carry over his losses into succeeding tax years legally. No one said that he has broken the law…Buffett merely said HE has never done such a thing. Also please note, without denigrating Mr. Buffett and his promotion of just causes in any way, his tax bill came out to just over ten percent of his stated income. According to the Tax Foundation’s report of 2015, the AVERAGE Joe Blow American pays 31.5% of his income towards taxes.
He has not received a traditional bank loan in over 10 years, he is effectively banned from such loans.
You mean all taxes combined. Not federal taxes alone. Buffett as talking about his federal taxes.
Of considerably more interest…since Berkshire Hathaway owns See’s Candies, is their delicious Peanut Brittle box the standard gift to people granted interviews?
Let me start by saying, I’m not a Trump supporter and I will not vote for him. However, when it comes to paying taxes, who out there does not take advantage of every legal deduction they’re entitled to? I have yet to meet anyone who has told me that they want to pay more than they have to. So does that me a cheat?
No it doesn’t but the question remains if you were running for POTUS why wouldn’t you release your tax returns unless you have something to hide.
Focusing so intently on the obviously unethical behavior of both candidates has drawn far too much attention away from the potential ramifications of electing either, which at this point should actually be dominating our thoughts and conversations. Enduring the realities of those potentials for only four years in many instances would be more preferable than forcing the nation to do so for a generation.
Agree, so why would candidates for POTUS not release birth certificates as proof of age and citizenship, academic records as proof of intelligence or medical records as proof of physical and mental abilities to hold the job? Incidentally, the Constitution specifies the qualifications for POTUS, but does not require candidates to provide proof that they meet the qualifications.
Nothing wrong with taking advantage of deductions you are legally entitled to. But a “net operating loss” carryover does not tell us whether or not the deductions and write offs he took that resulted in the loss carryover are legitimate. Obviously, you would need to see his tax returne to make that determination. And if he has nothing to hide, why (ad naseum) doesn’t he just release his tax returns to put this issue to rest once and for all?
I find it impossible to believe that the IRS didn’t audit his returns multiple times over the past several decades. Unlike me, people with large incomes and complex returns are audited regularly. I believe his returns are being audited right now. I’m guessing that the audit will not uncover anything illegal and I’m also guessing that it won’t change anyone’s mind of whether they like him or not.
So why doesn’t he release his tax returns, to show the world how smart he is. People assume, and he doesn’t deny it, that he has paid not taxes. So he should have nothing to hide, correct???
So it must be something else he’s hiding. If smart* Trump fans told him they won’t vote for him until he shows his taxes, maybe he will release them.
*I say smart fans, because only a dumb person would vote for a person hiding something big from the public. Everyone agree? 😀
“who out there does not take advantage of every legal deduction they’re entitled to?”
Almost everyone “out there” no matter what their income has almost certainly been paying more federal income tax than this multi billionaire.
Someone should run an article about what Mark Cuban thinks. They can again quote him referring to Trump as a “jagoff.” Has a nice ring to it.
Say NO to Jagoff!
Trump fans, it’s one thing to support his vague wall promise, economic ramblings, and empty tough talk. But to INSIST on not seeing his tax returns is ridiculous.
There’s a special word for people who enthusiastically, blindly follow a guy offering big promises with no details: SUCKER.
What does that make you?
Gotta agree with you. Look what happened to all those that fell for that “hope” and “change’ BS that obama hawked while running for office. 🙁
I like the part about buffett paying less than 16% in federal taxes. I may need a better tax advisor…according to the IRS, those making more than 2.2million (top 0.1%) has an average tax rate of 21.7%.
Maybe you should try giving millions to a good cause and you will get more of a break.
Why does Buffett pays less than 15% in federal taxes? Because Buffett’s salary from Berkshire Hathaway has been “only” $100,000 per year for many years. Most of his income is from long term capital gains (maximum 15-20% tax rate) and dividends. His AGI/taxes are reduced in part to the $5.5 million charitable donation deductions he has taken of the TOTAL $2.86 BILLION Buffett has DONATED TO CHARITIES.
I couldn’t believe that 2.8 BILLION number!!
By the looks of the numbers, Buffett paid less then 20% of income tax. That’s less than a lot of middle class people. Is he paying his “fair” share? Buffett says he didn’t us the particular strategy that Trump used. However, that does not mean he didn’t use all strategies he could to lessen his tax burden. If his income is coming from his holdings, then he is probably paying capital gains tax, which Romney was vilified for when he was running for president. The whole point of this is that our tax code needs to be overhauled.
Agree. Clinton is promising to do this, to shift the burden upward, and I’m hoping she’ll follow through when (not if) elected. One of the major takeaways from Trump’s challenge is exposure of the loopholes for the rich. Give the old saying “Laughing all the way to the bank” an ominous ring, doesn’t it?
Well, as the very lucid response above, between taking just 100k in salary, investment income (where 99% of his income is derived), and billions, yes billions in charitable donations, it is easy to see why his tax rate is between 16-20%.
AGI – Deductions = Taxable Income
so Mr. Buffett paid about 30% in taxes.
If Donald Trump does to the USA what he did to the USFL we’re all dead.
I think its gross income minus deductions equals AGI. Looking at Buffett’s numbers above his AGI was $11,563,931 in 2015. He had $5,477,694 of deductions. His gross income was $17,041,625. That’s only seventeen million. Why only? Buffett is worth over 50 billion. I don’t think the gov’t should take away anybody’s hard earned money, no matter how much they have. But don’t make it seem as if Buffett is not unlike Trump or any other uber rich person for that matter, who doesn’t use the tax laws to their advantage. Why don’t we see if Clinton or Gates or any of the hollywood liberal stars uses tax advantages or not. I don’t believe any of them just give a percentage of the highest tax bracket based of their Gross income. By the way, they could do it if they wanted to.
Good points to ponder, Dontbelieveinmyths.
30% is his tax bracket not the percentage he paid in taxes. His % he paid in taxes is tax paid / gross income which is 16%. That is because 45% of his gross income is not taxable. This is exactly what Trump did. He took a 100% tax deduction. Trust me, if Buffet had a $1 billion dollar lost, he would also take the deduction. The only thing Buffet proves is that he is a very successful business person that never lost money. Someone should ask Buffet that theoretical question: If he lost $1 billion, would he use the loss to offset future income? I willing to bet in Las Vegas that he will say yes.
Bottom Line: Donald Trump took authorized deductions. Not his rules but he will play the rules for all it has just like everybody else that can itemize their taxes. Warren Buffet also plays the game. Buffet took a $5 million deduction out of $11 million gross income. That is 45% ($6 million) of his gross income that was not taxed!!! Then Buffet wants to cry that over $2 million worth of donation couldn’t be tax deducted. If you do the math from above numbers, his tax bracket is 16% ($1.2/$11). I haven’t seen %16 since I was 16 yrs old.
Well, between it being long term investment income (15%) and charitable donations, he (Warren) is paying exactly what the tax code dictates…..
not $2 million, but Buffett gave $2 BILLION in charitable donations but only deducted $5 million (or 1/4%) of what he donated.
Buffett is entitled to his opinion. Those wiht substantial wealth often hire professionals to keep their taxes and other affairs in order. Unless you are a tax professional, who are you to opine one way or another how the job was done? The way I look at it is the IRS has done their audits and has yet to find anything illegal (or at least hasn’t released any statements to the media to indicate any illegal findings).
I’m not the biggest fan of Trump, however I’m not a fan of Clinton as well. We shall see how things develop over the next few weeks.
Have you thought about Gary Johnson. I am just wondering if people who don’t like either choice will vote for Gary or just pick the lessor of two evils.
Sure wish Ben Carson didn’t bow out, but now he has, we have 2 choices. There are other parties that have candidates running, but realistically, it will be either Clinton or Trump who will get elected.
Gary remains our best choice, but his slip up about Aleppo, and his inability to name a current foreign leader he admired, has cost him support amongst shallow voters. Building a good president, like a solid home, ought to start with a strong foundation. A home loaded with trimmings may appear fabulous, or another built illegally with greased palms for half price might seem like a deal, but both leave room for major problems down the road. Johnson has the “right stuff” to begin the process, and offers both sides an equal chance at his ear.
That said, his chances are slim at best, as it seems only a catastrophe could propel him into serious contention. Many, myself included, will still vote for him, which is better than not voting at all.
Let’s translate Buffet’s taxes to an “ordinary” person. Buffet is worth about $40B – Ordinary person $1M. Buffet is worth 40,000 times o.p. So let’s divide all his taxes by 40,000 and see what this translates for an “ordinary” person.
$300 in income
$145 in deductions
$45 in taxes
If I had a million in investments and only made $300, I would be a crappy investor or not trying very hard.
And that’s the problem with taxing rich people to solve the deficit. They don’t need to make any money- they can live off what they already have. Only the up and comers will be affected.