Richest Americans Paid Federal Income Taxes Equaling Just 3.4% Of $401 Billion In New Wealth

[jmdrake]

Bill Gates Calls for Higher Taxes on Wealthy in NYE Blog Post

https://markets.businessinsider.com...nt primarily taxes labor,for more than a year.

Of course. They all do. Bill Gates. Warren Buffet. Donald Trump. Jeff Bezos does it indirectly through the Washington Post. It's all a scam. They know how the system works and when taxes are "raised on the rich" they're only raised on the stupid rich. The smart rich just use the new loopholes. The only was to fix the income tax system is to abolish it.

 

[Sonny Tufts]

But the Bill Gates of the world hide their income by pretending they haven't made income. Realize your gains, but hide them by putting them in a foundation that you control so you can virtue signal and fly around the world on your private jet while pushing everyone else to worry about their carbon footprint.

It doesn't work that way because there's a limit on annual charitable deductions. So if Gates has $100 million in realized income and he contributes it all to his foundation (which I assume would be characterized as a private foundation -- i.e., one that's not publicly supported), he will be able deduct only $30 million. The remaining $70 million can be carried over and deducted over the following 5 years, subject to the 30% limit in each year. But he's taxed on that $70 million in the year he makes the contribution.

 

[jmdrake]

It doesn't work that way because there's a limit on annual charitable deductions. So if Gates has $100 million in realized income and he contributes it all to his foundation (which I assume would be characterized as a private foundation -- i.e., one that's not publicly supported), he will be able deduct only $30 million. The remaining $70 million can be carried over and deducted over the following 5 years, subject to the 30% limit in each year. But he's taxed on that $70 million in the year he makes the contribution.

Unless he bought the stock through the foundation in the first place.

 

[Sonny Tufts]

Unless he bought the stock through the foundation in the first place.

What stock?? Not sure what you're saying here, but if you're assuming that he contributes $100 million of stock to the foundation instead of cash, he's in a worse position because the cap in that case is 20% instead of 30%.

 

[jmdrake]

What stock?? Not sure what you're saying here, but if you're assuming that he contributes $100 million of stock to the foundation instead of cash, he's in a worse position because the cap in that case is 20% instead of 30%.

I'm talking about the vaccine stock mentioned here:



And here:

https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/ne...-but-bill-gates-sold-early-made-huge-profits/

Bill Gates reaped massive profits from ‘impeccably timed’ sale of Pfizer stock
Schachtel reviewed Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings and found the Gates Foundation downsized its BioNTech holdings by 86% — from 1,038,674 to 148,674 shares — over the third quarter of 2021, BioNTech’s best-performing quarter.

The foundation had purchased the shares in September 2019 — just months before the pandemic was announced — at a pre-public offering price of $18.10 per share.

When the foundation sold the shares — at an average sale price of $300 per share — it pocketed a profit of approximately $260 million, or more than 15 times its original investment.

Schachtel said $242 million of that profit is untaxed because the money was invested through the foundation.

The Gates Foundation sold an additional 2 million shares prior to the third quarter of 2021, and subsequently sold 1.4 million shares of CureVac, a German-based mRNA company, making another $50 million, Schachtel found.

“Bill Gates secured hundreds of millions of dollars in profits from his foundation’s impeccably timed investment in BioNTech — the Pfizer partner for its mRNA Covid shots — before dramatically reversing course and proceeding to openly cast doubt on the whole of mRNA technology,” Schachtel wrote.

After dumping his stocks, in November 2021, Gates said, “We need a new way of doing the vaccines,” because the vaccines didn’t stop transmission, despite all of his previous claims to the contrary.

Speaking at the Lowy Institute, Gates said:

“We also need to fix the three problems of [COVID-19] vaccines. The current vaccines are not infection-blocking. They’re not broad, so when new variants come up you lose protection, and they have very short duration, particularly in the people who matter, which are old people.”

With those comments, “Gates amped up his doubtful rhetoric about mRNA, continuing to distance himself from the once hyped technology that he used to secure hundreds of millions of dollars in pandemic profits,” Schachtel said.
​

Bottom line, much of the "unrealized gains" people are yammering about were actually realized.

 

[Sonny Tufts]

I'm talking about the vaccine stock mentioned here

But this was stock that belonged to the foundation, and the realized gain was its own; it wasn't Gates's stock, and he realized no gain from its sale. Why in the world should anyone think that Gates can treat the gain as his own?

 

[jmdrake]

But this was stock that belonged to the foundation, and the realized gain was its own; it wasn't Gates's stock, and he realized no gain from its sale. Why in the world should anyone think that Gates can treat the gain as his own?

*Sigh* Here's the scam. Bill Gates uses he foundation for his own personal benefit. I don't have a problem with that. I have a problem with the system that allows it. When Barron Trump wanted to join the Boy Scouts, Donald Trump's "private foundation" made a $7.00 donation of the exact amount of the required dues to the Boy Scouts. I'm not mad at Trump for doing that. I'm saying the system is rigged. Hell DONALD TRUMP HIMSELF SAID THE SYSTEM IS RIGGED! That's one of the times Trump was honest. Why the hell do you want to defend such a system? I thought everyone here understood, as Ron Paul has said multiple times, that the income tax itself is the problem. (Well...one of the problems.) It's designed to be rigged in favor of the people who designed it who just happen to be the people who can afford paid lobbyists who just happen to be the 1%.

Don't get it twisted. As long as the system is rigged, everyone SHOULD do their best to take advantage of it. But the system itself needs to be scrapped.

Edit: And all of the uber rich know it's rigged in favor of them.

 

[Weston White]

Just an alternative idea for consumption. Either way I think a constitutional amendment would be necessary, e.g., a VAT is essentially a national sales tax that follows throughout the entire manufacturing and assembly process over every article of consumption, and sales taxes exist within the policing powers of individual states.

The underlying issue we presently have in America (everywhere really) is an increasing number of multi-millionaires and billionaires, as ‘nouveau riche’, including individuals that have acquired massive sums of wealth that exceeds what many nations have in GDP. And these people, like Bill Gates, have setup tax havens, NGOs, and cooped international agencies that operate under international treaties, such as the WHO and UN, to lobby and to usurp and to infect their individual ideologies and agendas into the will of the public; like George Soros, who funds political organizations (e.g., DNC) to incite havoc an chaos on a national level, to control and dominate the process of electing candidates into office; like Mike Zuckerburg, who covertly works with bureaucrats (and major media and Google services) to censor political opposition and to proactively data-mine the world in real time; like Klaus Schwab, who conspires in unison at an international level through his WEF and in cooperation with NGOs, WHO, UN, UNESCO, CFR, G30, Bilderbergs, Davos, Club of Rome, Trilateral Commission, et al, and the ultrawealthy 1-percent at an international scale so as to effect similar ideologies and agendas as Bill Gates, George Soros, Henry Kissinger, Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerburg, the Rothschilds, the Rockefellers, et al.

…We can even look to Elon Musk on this point, though he appears to represent the dichotomy, using his wealth primarily in mind with a libertarian mindset.

It ought to be a good thought exercise, even if only limited in duration, to place a literal cap on how much any individual can own in liquidity at a given time. It should be of grave concern as to exactly how specific groups of individuals can amass such wealth into the hundreds of billions.

 

[GlennwaldSnowdenAssanged]

Next year it will cost $100 billion dollars for a cup of coffee at a convenience store.

 

[GlennwaldSnowdenAssanged]

It matters not how tax is calculated, or collected. No matter how much is collected it will never satisfy the governments spending appetite.

 

[Sonny Tufts]

*Sigh* Here's the scam. Bill Gates uses he foundation for his own personal benefit.

How does he do that? Are you suggesting that his foundation's activities aren't sufficiently charitable? Or that the $6 billion plus it spent in 2021 was really for Gate's personal benefit?? There are very serious penalty taxes imposed on private foundations, their managers, and their substantial contributors for self-dealing. See IRC §4941.

Your Trump example simply demonstrates that the SOB was too cheap to pay the $7 out of his own pocket. The biggest scam he pulled was having his foundation buy portraits of himself. For this and other irregularities, it was forced to dissolve, and Trump himself was forced to pay over $2 million in damages (all of which went to eight charities).

 

[jmdrake]

How does he do that? Are you suggesting that his foundation's activities aren't sufficiently charitable? Or that the $6 billion plus it spent in 2021 was really for Gate's personal benefit?? There are very serious penalty taxes imposed on private foundations, their managers, and their substantial contributors for self-dealing. See IRC §4941.

So...you're suggesting that you actually trust Bill Gates after everything he's done? The monster is pushing Agenda 21 harder than anyone on the planet! Sufficiently charitable? Charity = love and love is not poisoning children around the world with an untested vaccine. Sorry but I can do without that type of "charity." The world would be better of if Bill Gates were paying a harem full of Stormy Daniels types to pleasure him. And LOL and you referencing the IRC as if it was actually written for the benefit of humanity! You must have Stockholm syndrome or something.

Your Trump example simply demonstrates that the SOB was too cheap to pay the $7 out of his own pocket. The biggest scam he pulled was having his foundation buy portraits of himself. For this and other irregularities, it was forced to dissolve, and Trump himself was forced to pay over $2 million in damages (all of which went to eight charities).

Wrong. IT DEMONSTRATES THAT THE SOB IS SMART ENOUGH TO KNOW HOW TO WORK THE SYSTEM! Everything Trump did with regards to taxes was PERFECTLY LEGAL! If it wasn't they wouldn't be going after him for what is at worst late hooker payments and at best proof that Trump was a victim of extortion.

 

[jmdrake]

Just an alternative idea for consumption. Either way I think a constitutional amendment would be necessary, e.g., a VAT is essentially a national sales tax that follows throughout the entire manufacturing and assembly process over every article of consumption, and sales taxes exist within the policing powers of individual states.

Umm.....the whiskey tax that was enforced by President George Washington was basically a VAT. Whiskey is value added grain. So no, a VAT does not violate the constitution.

The underlying issue we presently have in America (everywhere really) is an increasing number of multi-millionaires and billionaires, as ‘nouveau riche’, including individuals that have acquired massive sums of wealth that exceeds what many nations have in GDP. And these people, like Bill Gates, have setup tax havens, NGOs, and cooped international agencies that operate under international treaties, such as the WHO and UN, to lobby and to usurp and to infect their individual ideologies and agendas into the will of the public; like George Soros, who funds political organizations (e.g., DNC) to incite havoc an chaos on a national level, to control and dominate the process of electing candidates into office; like Mike Zuckerburg, who covertly works with bureaucrats (and major media and Google services) to censor political opposition and to proactively data-mine the world in real time; like Klaus Schwab, who conspires in unison at an international level through his WEF and in cooperation with NGOs, WHO, UN, UNESCO, CFR, G30, Bilderbergs, Davos, Club of Rome, Trilateral Commission, et al, and the ultrawealthy 1-percent at an international scale so as to effect similar ideologies and agendas as Bill Gates, George Soros, Henry Kissinger, Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, Mark Zuckerburg, the Rothschilds, the Rockefellers, et al.

Yeah...at a certain level I don't give a crap about them one way or another. I care about myself and my community. And all of us, black or white, are basically slaves of the current system. There is no tax more egregious than the income tax! Well...maybe property taxes. But that's actually at the state level. If I don't want to pay high fuel taxes I can drive less or make my own fuel. (The government wants to tax DIY fuel too but that's pretty much impossible.) Taxes on food? I can grow my own. Taxes on manufactured goods? I can buy used stuff on the cheap or do without. I can reduce my consumption. But taxes on income? Well...I can earn less. I can try to learn how to game the system. Or I can get cheat and risk a rape cage. The income tax is authoritarian and just plain evil. And it sets us against each other. [MENTION=3169]Anti Federalist[/MENTION] is concerned that white and Asians may get audited more even though there's currently no actual evidence to support that. I'm certain that blacks will be audited more based on the new CashApp reporting requirements. WHY SHOULD ANY OF THIS EVEN BE A THING! Seriously?

…We can even look to Elon Musk on this point, though he appears to represent the dichotomy, using his wealth primarily in mind with a libertarian mindset.

Where would Elon Musk be without gubmint "green subsidies" of lithium battery based electric vehicles? Did you know that the U.S. government actively blocked U.S. created hydrogen technology that would have overcome all of the problems with the current electric vehicle energy storage needs?



So much for the government not picking winners and losers.

It ought to be a good thought exercise, even if only limited in duration, to place a literal cap on how much any individual can own in liquidity at a given time. It should be of grave concern as to exactly how specific groups of individuals can amass such wealth into the hundreds of billions.

I have nothing against billionaires. I'm concerned about me and mine. I'm not hurt if Elon Musk has billions as long as he didn't get it through government largess (and he actually did get some of it through government largess). I'm concerned about a tax system that penalizes work! It needs to be scrapped.

 

[Weston White]

How does he do that? Are you suggesting that his foundation's activities aren't sufficiently charitable? Or that the $6 billion plus it spent in 2021 was really for Gate's personal benefit?? There are very serious penalty taxes imposed on private foundations, their managers, and their substantial contributors for self-dealing. See IRC §4941.

So you supposedly specialize in protecting corporate interests, including tax shelters, yet you don't get how this works? Gates, on the front end, uses his foundation to invest in the initial development or inventing of whatever the new "thing" is to be and also to lobby public policy (along with WEF and other NGOs) thus virtually securing his investment (otherwise, most everything in the red becomes a tax write-off or exemption through the disguised investments provided through his tax exempt foundation), and then afterwards, on the back end, he invests in the company/stocks itself...to then reap a rapid return upon cashing out in the short-term...in this instance COVID-19 paraphernalia:

Historical: http://techrights.org/wiki/Gates_Foundation_Critique#2023

The news followed on the heels of a string of developments calling into question the COVID-19 vaccines — including comments last week by billionaire and vaccine investor Bill Gates, who criticized the efficacy and durability of the vaccines during a talk at Australia’s Lowy Institute.

Investigative journalist Jordan Schachtel on Tuesday revealed the extent of Gates’ profit-making from his investments in Pfizer partner BioNTech. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation made 15 times its initial investment when the foundation sold its BioNTech shares at the height of their value in 2021.

Pfizer’s stock fell 15% in January.
...
Bill Gates reaped massive profits from ‘impeccably timed’ sale of Pfizer stock

https://www.clarkcountytoday.com/ne...-but-bill-gates-sold-early-made-huge-profits/

https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/articles/covid19-contributions

Bill Gates: My ‘best investment’ turned $10 billion into $200 billion worth of economic benefit

Investing in global health organizations aimed at increasing access to vaccines creates a 20-to-1 return, the Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist says.

Putting $10 billion into the S&P 500 would have grown only to $17 billion over 18 years, factoring in reinvested dividends, Gates tells CNBC in Davos.

https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/23/bil...to-200-billion-worth-of-economic-benefit.html

 

[Sonny Tufts]

Everything Trump did with regards to taxes was PERFECTLY LEGAL! If it wasn't they wouldn't be going after him for what is at worst late hooker payments and at best proof that Trump was a victim of extortion.

If what he did regarding his portraits was legal his foundation wouldn't have been forced to dissolve and he wouldn't have had to pay over $2 million in damages. And you're forgetting the tax fraud his Organization committed regarding the compensation of Allen Weisselberg and other executives.

 

[jmdrake]

If what he did regarding his portraits was legal his foundation wouldn't have been forced to dissolve and he wouldn't have had to pay over $2 million in damages. And you're forgetting the tax fraud his Organization committed regarding the compensation of Allen Weisselberg and other executives.

LOL. Did Trump face any FEDERAL charges? Nope. Yeah he settled out of court because a New York prosecutor went after him. No proof that he violated the federal tax code.

EDIT: And you've GOT to be kidding bringing up Allen Weisselberg! He was prosecuted for "falsifying business records" by the corrupt DA Bragg. So....do you believe Trump's guilty of falsifying business records with the Stormy Daniels payout? Same charge different facts.

EDIT 2: But for the sake of argument, let's say New York prosecutors actually can be trusted. Say if some rich person wanted to use his foundation to fund his world travel. What's to keep him from finding some climate change or clean water event or habitat to protect in every country he might want to visit and let the foundation pay for it?

 

[Weston White]

If what he did regarding his portraits was legal his foundation wouldn't have been forced to dissolve and he wouldn't have had to pay over $2 million in damages. And you're forgetting the tax fraud his Organization committed regarding the compensation of Allen Weisselberg and other executives.

So, you would like for us to believe that in Trump's narcissism he used his charity to purchase a bunch of paintings of himself right? But in actually this is what went down:

The Trump family lawyer Alan Futerfas insisted there was nothing untoward – or even intentional – about the foundation’s purchase of the 6ft artwork, the proceeds of which benefited another not-for-profit.

“Some artist puts a painting up for auction, so Mr Trump donates $10,000 to start the bidding,” Futerfas told the Manhattan supreme court justice Saliann Scarpulla. “And then when the auction goes on, and no one else bids, he buys the painting.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news...uction-court-case-finanical-violations-claims

As to Weisselberg, Trump is not responsible as to how Weisselberg files his taxes. If Trump had any degree of connection to the misconduct of the executives operating his two Trump subsidiaries (one his payroll company), Trump would have himself been indicted. DA Bragg was involved in prosecuting this case, an imbecilic moron who campaigned solely on taking down Trump--the guy is blinded by his own political hatred and stupidity.


As to the why the foundation shutdown, here is Trump's view on the matter:

In a statement to the BBC, Trump Foundation lawyer Alan Futerfas - signatory to the deal closing the foundation - said: "Contrary to the NYAG's [New York Attorney General] misleading statement... the foundation has been seeking to dissolve and distribute its remaining assets to worthwhile charitable causes since Donald J Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election.

"Unfortunately, the NYAG sought to prevent dissolution for almost two years, thereby depriving those most in need of nearly $1.7m.

"Over the past decade, the foundation is proud to have distributed approximately $19m, including $8.25m of the president's personal money, to over 700 different charitable organisations with virtually zero expenses.

"The NYAG's inaccurate statement of this morning is a further attempt to politicize this matter."

Mr Trump and his eldest children have yet to comment.

Last June, Mr Trump indicated on Twitter that he was not willing to settle the case, insisting the foundation had done nothing wrong.

 

[Sonny Tufts]

LOL. Did Trump face any FEDERAL charges? Nope. Yeah he settled out of court because a New York prosecutor went after him. No proof that he violated the federal tax code.

I never said he did. I was just refuting your claim that "Everything Trump did with regards to taxes was PERFECTLY LEGAL!"

EDIT: And you've GOT to be kidding bringing up Allen Weisselberg! He was prosecuted for "falsifying business records" by the corrupt DA Bragg. So....do you believe Trump's guilty of falsifying business records with the Stormy Daniels payout? Same charge different facts.

Apples and oranges. The charges against Trump in the hush money case don't deal with tax fraud.* Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 counts of tax fraud and tax evasion and had to pay over $2 million in back taxes, penalties, and interest. The Trump Organization was found guilty by a jury of 17 counts of tax fraud, conspiracy and falsifying business records.

EDIT 2: But for the sake of argument, let's say New York prosecutors actually can be trusted. Say if some rich person wanted to use his foundation to fund his world travel. What's to keep him from finding some climate change or clean water event or habitat to protect in every country he might want to visit and let the foundation pay for it?

If taking such trips were something an independent foundation manager would have done in furtherance of the foundation's mission, there might not be a problem (although the IRS might disapprove of lavish hotels and meals). But if the guy isn't involved in actually running the foundation, the penalty taxes on self-dealing in IRC §4941 might apply.


* There is speculation that Bragg may try to bump a misdemeanor charge of falsifying business records to a felony by arguing that Trump did so in order to commit, aid or conceal filing false information to tax authorities:

The statement of facts also described how Mr. Trump paid Mr. Cohen more than Mr. Cohen had paid Ms. Daniels to cover income taxes Mr. Cohen would incur. Mr. Bragg further emphasized that point in his news conference.

His wording was ambiguous in places. At one point, he seemed to suggest that a planned false statement to New York tax authorities was just an example of the ways by which Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen purportedly violated the state law against conspiring to promote a candidate through unlawful means.

But it is also a crime to submit false information to the state government. At another point Mr. Bragg seemed to put forward an alleged plan to lie to tax authorities — an intention to say Mr. Cohen had earned income for “legal services performed in 2017” to launder what was in reality a repayment — as a stand-alone offense.

In addition to covering up campaign-finance crimes committed in 2016, Mr. Bragg said: “To get Michael Cohen his money back, they planned one last false statement. In order to complete the scheme, they planned to mischaracterize the repayments to Mr. Cohen as income to the New York state tax authorities.”

In the courtroom, the prosecutor Christopher Conroy accused Mr. Trump of causing the Trump Organization to create a series of false business records, adding that he “even mischaracterized for tax purposes the true nature of the payment.”

That prosecutors cited the possibility of planned false statements on tax filings struck some legal specialists as particularly significant, given the speculation over how bookkeeping fraud charges would rise to felonies.

“The reference to false tax filings may save the case from legal challenges that may arise if the felony charges are predicated only on federal and state election laws,” said Ryan Goodman, a law professor at New York University.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/04/us/politics/trump-bookkeeping-fraud-taxes.html

 

[Sonny Tufts]

So, you would like for us to believe that in Trump's narcissism he used his charity to purchase a bunch of paintings of himself right? But in actually this is what went down

That's only one painting. Then there was this one:

Donald Trump used a fake bidder to buy a portrait of himself for $60,000 using his own charity’s cash, Michael Cohen’s testimony has revealed.

During his explosive testimony to the House oversight committee, Mr Cohen said that the President had instructed him to find a ‘straw bidder’ to buy the portrait of him that was being auctioned at an event.

He said Mr Trump then told the Trump Foundation – a charitable organisation – to repay the fake bidder the $60,000 that had been spent on the painting, despite keeping the piece of art himself.

Cohen told the committee: “Mr Trump directed me to find a straw bidder to purchase a portrait of him that was being auctioned at an Art Hamptons Event.

“The objective was to ensure that his portrait, which was going to be auctioned last, would go for the highest price of any portrait that afternoon.
https://news.yahoo.com/trump-bought-painting-60k-using-charity-cash-kept-084949204.html

 

[jmdrake]

I never said he did. I was just refuting your claim that "Everything Trump did with regards to taxes was PERFECTLY LEGAL!"

Trump hasn't been charged with tax fraud. When his tax returns were finally released...nothing.

Apples and oranges. The charges against Trump in the hush money case don't deal with tax fraud.* Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 counts of tax fraud and tax evasion and had to pay over $2 million in back taxes, penalties, and interest. The Trump Organization was found guilty by a jury of 17 counts of tax fraud, conspiracy and falsifying business records.

Doesn't sound like the tax charges had anything to do with Trump. Weisslberg was convict of fraud regarding his own taxes.


https://www.npr.org/2023/01/10/1148090095/trump-organization-tax-fraud-allen-weisselberg

"In Manhattan, you have to play by the rules no matter who you are or who you work for, " Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement. "Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg used his high-level position to secure lavish work perks such as a rent-free luxury Manhattan apartment, multiple Mercedes Benz automobiles and private school tuition for his grandchildren – all without paying required taxes."
​

If taking such trips were something an independent foundation manager would have done in furtherance of the foundation's mission, there might not be a problem (although the IRS might disapprove of lavish hotels and meals). But if the guy isn't involved in actually running the foundation, the penalty taxes on self-dealing in IRC §4941 might apply.

LOL. So...be smart about what your doing. Like Bill Gates. He travels around the world poisoning kids and calls it "charity." And he hires good publicity people to smooze it over. You're not refuting my point in the least.

* There is speculation that Bragg may try to bump a misdemeanor charge of falsifying business records to a felony by arguing that Trump did so in order to commit, aid or conceal filing false information to tax authorities:

Yes. Because Bragg is an actual criminal. Seriously he charged a crime victim who had been shot, took the gun from the criminal and shot and wounded him, with attempted murder. Using your logic, self defense is not legal because an overzealous prosecutor might file charges against you.