Warren Buffett has revealed his 2015 income tax details to refute claims by Donald Trump that he, Buffett, had also used tax loss carryforwards to protect income.
The rare statement came overnight and revealed that Buffett doesn’t make that much money personally – for a man who controls a company worth $US359 billion, and who has a personal worth well in excess of $US80 billion.
The $US11.5 million in income is a lot more than most people earn, but it is far way short of the sort of income Donald Trump likes to boast about.
Buffett released the statement in reply to being accused in the second debate by Trump of using tax loss carryforwards (as Trump is doing).
“He has not seen my income tax returns. But I am happy to give him the facts,” Buffett said in the statement. “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.) I have copies of all 72 of my returns and none uses a carryforward.”
“I have been audited by the IRS multiple times and am currently being audited,” Buffett said in a statement issued overnight “I have no problem in releasing my tax information while under audit. Neither would Mr. Trump –- at least he would have no legal problem.”
"My deductions totaled $5,477,694, of which allowable charitable contributions were $3,469,179. All but $36,037 of the remainder was for state income taxes,” he said.
"The total charitable contributions I made during the year were $2,858,057,970, of which more than $2.85 billion were not taken as deductions and never will be. Tax law properly limits charitable deductions,” Buffett said. (That by the way also refutes claims by critics that Buffett is getting tax deductions for donating to his private charity).
In yesterday’s debate, Trump acknowledged confirmed that he had used investment losses to avoid paying taxes. He repeatedly said he was only taking advantage of tax provisions used by wealthy people who support Clinton. “I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett …", he said.
The New York Times reported that Trump’s declared loss of $US916 million in 1995 was so large that he could legally have avoided paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years, including three years prior to 1995 under US tax law.
Buffett said he paid about $1.85 million in income tax in 2015, and that returns for previous years were similar in respect to contributions, deductions and tax rates.
“I have paid federal income tax every year since 1944, when I was 13," Buffett said in a statement, adding that "being a slow starter, I owed only $7 in tax that year."
