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marzo 20, 2023
President Joe Biden’s Twitter account posted a questionable statistic on Saturday about how a lot tax American billionaires pay.
“Look, I believe you must be capable to be a billionaire in case you can earn it, however simply pay your justifiable share,” Biden’s tweet learn. “I believe you should pay a minimal tax of 25%. It’s about primary equity.”
The tweet included a graphic of a Biden quote that stated: “ the typical tax billionaires pay? Three %. No billionaire needs to be paying a decrease tax than anyone working as a schoolteacher or a firefighter.”
However it’s unclear the place the three% determine got here from, and it contradicts figures the White Home has issued up to now.
In February, the White Home issued a truth sheet referred to as “The Biden Financial Plan Is Working,” which calculated how a lot tax the U.S. might accumulate if it counted unrealized positive aspects – a possible revenue on an unsold asset – as earnings.
“In a typical yr, billionaires pay a mean tax charge of simply 8%,” the actual fact sheet learn. Factoring in unrealized positive aspects is the rationale for the decrease statistic.
“Utilizing the prevailing definition of taxable earnings, actually wealthy folks pay a mean federal earnings tax charge within the mid-20s,” Brookings Establishment Tax Coverage Heart senior fellow Howard Gleckman advised PolitiFact in July. “If you wish to embrace unrealized positive aspects in your denominator, because the White Home does, the typical charge would go means down.”
One other White Home determine from 2021 gave an 8% determine fairly than the three% one Biden lately cited.
“The evaluation from OMB and CEA economists estimates that the wealthiest 400 billionaire households in America paid a mean of simply 8.2 % of their earnings – together with earnings from their wealth that goes largely untaxed – in Federal particular person earnings taxes between 2010 and 2018. That’s a decrease charge than many atypical People pay,” the 2021 publish learn.
In response, Twitter CEO Elon Musk disputed Biden’s tax declare.
“I paid 53% taxes on my Tesla inventory choices (40% Federal & 13% state), so I should be lifting the typical!” the South African entrepreneur wrote. “I additionally paid extra earnings tax than anybody ever within the historical past of Earth for 2021 and can try this once more in 2022.”
“Could be curious to listen to how these different ‘billionaires’ are so good at avoiding taxes!” Musk added in one other tweet, after asking Twitter’s Group Notes function to fact-check the assertion.
