por admin » Mar Ago 16, 2011 10:31 pm
La evasion de impuestos de Warren Buffett
Barney Kilgore, el hombre que hizo del Wall Street Journal una publicacion nacional, dijo una vez, cuando le preguntaron por que tantos millonarios favorecian pagar mas impuestos. Es facil, dijo. Ellos ya son ricos.
Este pensamiento merece ser revisado ante el duo politico de Obama y Warren Buffett demandando que los millonarios y billonarios paguen mas impuestos. Y ya que estamos en el tema, demos una mirada mas cuidadosa a algunas de sus evasion de impuestos.
El doble impuesto. El magnate de Berkshire Hathaway habla mucho de que solo paga el 17.4% de impuestos sobre sus ingresos, lo cual considera injusto cuando otros trabajadores asalariados pagan mucho mas. Pero Mr. Buffett gana la mayoria de sus ingresos provenientes de sus inversiones, en particular dividendos y ganancias de capital que pagan 15% de impuestos.
Lo que Buffett no dice es que la mayoria de sus ingresos ya han pagado impuestos (impuestos dobles) como ganancias corporativas, el impuesto en estas ganancias es 35% menos las deducciones. El 15% de impuestos sobre las ganancias de capital y dividendos es un impuesto adicional al ya pagado por las corporaciones que es cerca de 45%.
Este impuesto tan alto pone en desventaja competitiva a las corporaciones americanas con respecto al resto del mundo, por ese motivo en el 2003, el Congreso aprobo un recorte de impuestos a las ganancias de capital y a los dividendos. Mientras el resto del mundo esta recortadno impuestos a las corporaciones, Mr. Buffett quiere que paguen mas impuestos haciendo a las companias americanas menos atractivas aun para las inversiones.
Como Obama, Buffett habla de aumentarle los impuestos solamente a los ricos. Pero los dos ignoran que el aumento de impuestos de Obama empieza en los $200,000 para los individuos y $250,000 para las parejas.
Obama eligio ese grupo por que alli es donde esta el dinero. En el 2009, 237,000 individuos reportaron ingresos de $1 millon o mas y pagaron $178 billones en impuestos, Solamente 8,274 personas ganaron mas de $10 millones, y ellos pagaron $54 billones en impuestos.
Pero 3.92 millones reportaron ingresos arriba de $200,000 en el 2009, y ellos pagaron $434 billones en impuestos. Poniendolo de otra manera, casi el 90% de los que Obama quiere que paguen mas impuestos no son millonarios, y 99.99% no son billonarios.
Mr. Buffett dice solamente s "justo" aumentarle los impuestos, pero el esta prestando su credibilidad para aumentar impuestos a millones de la clase media para los que pagar unos cuantos miles mas de dolares en impuestos es bastante significativo. Como es que el despues de los impuestos es un asunto tan importante. A diferencia de Buffett esta clase media no es rica y puede ganar $250,000 por algunos anios no siempre. Como eso es justo?
Para billonarios como Buffett, la deduccion de impuestos mas importante es la de la caridad. Los de la clase media no dan tanto dinero como Buffett a obras de caridad como para reducir de manera significativa su pago de impuestos. Y claro no esperen escuchar a Buffett decir que eliminen la deduccion de las obras de caridad en nombre de ser mas justos.
Mr. Buffett ademas, ya ha protegido la gran parte de su fortuna de los impuestos federales al ponerla en una fundacion para poder darle el dinero. Ese no es un acto de generosidad, pero si el objetivo del gobierno es tan vital, porque el no simplemente le da el dinero al IRS?
Rebecca Quick de CNBC le pregunto eso a Buffett en el 2007. Su respuesta: Bueno, esa es una decision y es una opcion... si tuviera que darselo a solamente un individuo, o hacer a un joven Buffett multibillonario, o darselo al gobierno, se lo daria al gobierno. Yo pienso que las fundaciones de Bill Gates, de mi hija y de mis dos hijos hacen un trabajo mejor con menores gastos administrativos y mejor seleccion de beneficiario que el gobierno.
Mr. Buffett es un gran seleccionador de acciones en su tiempo y que siga ganando mucho dinero. Nosotros solo deseamos que ya que el es rico, el no le haga el trabajo mas dificil para que otros tambien se hagan ricos. Si el esta preocupado por que pagan menores impuestos, nosotros le sugerimos que simplemente haga un cheque bien grande para el gobierno y regrese a trabajar escogiendo acciones.
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Warren Buffett's Tax Dodge
The billionaire volunteers the middle class for a tax increase
Barney Kilgore, the man who made the Wall Street Journal into a national publication, was once asked why so many rich people favored higher taxes. That's easy, he replied. They already have their money.
That insight is worth recalling amid the latest political duet from President Obama and Warren Buffett demanding higher taxes on "millionaires and billionaires." Mr. Buffett is repeating his now familiar argument this week, coinciding with Mr. Obama's Midwestern road trip on the economy. Since the media are treating Mr. Buffett as a tax oracle, let's take a closer look at some of the billionaire's intellectual tax dodges.
• The double tax oversight. The Berkshire Hathaway magnate makes much of the fact that he paid only 17.4% of his income in taxes, which he considers unfair when salaried workers often pay more. But Mr. Buffett makes most of his income from his investments, in particular from dividends and capital gains that are taxed at a rate of 15%.
What he doesn't say is that much of his income was already taxed once as corporate income, which is assessed at a 35% rate (less deductions). The 15% levy on capital gains and dividends to individuals is thus a double tax that takes the overall tax rate on that corporate income closer to 45%.
This onerous tax on capital is a U.S. competitive disadvantage in the global economy, which is why Congress agreed in 2003 to cut the rates on dividends and capital gains. Even as the rest of the world is cutting tax rates on corporate income, Mr. Buffett wants to raise U.S. rates in a way that would make America less attractive for investment. Under a sensible tax reform, the feds would impose either a corporate tax or a dividend and capital gains tax, but not both.
• The middle-class bait-and-switch. Like Mr. Obama, Mr. Buffett speaks about raising taxes only on the rich. But somehow he ignores that the President's tax increase starts at $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples. Mr. Obama ought to call them "thousandaires," but that probably doesn't poll as well.
The President needs to levy his tax increase at such a lower income level because that's where the money is. In 2009, 237,000 taxpayers reported income above $1 million and they paid $178 billion in taxes. A mere 8,274 filers reported income above $10 million, and they paid only $54 billion in taxes.
But 3.92 million reported income above $200,000 in 2009, and they paid $434 billion in taxes. To put it another way, roughly 90% of the tax filers who would pay more under Mr. Obama's plan aren't millionaires, and 99.99% aren't billionaires.
Mr. Buffett says it's only "fair" to raise his taxes, but he's lending his credibility to raising taxes on millions of middle-class earners for whom a few extra thousand dollars in after-tax income is a big deal. Unlike Mr. Buffett, those middle-class earners aren't rich and may earn $250,000 for only a few years of their working lives. How is that fair?
• The charity loophole. For billionaires like Mr. Buffett, the single most important deduction in the tax code is for charitable giving. Middle-class earners can't give nearly as much money away to reduce their overall tax burden. Yet we don't hear Mr. Buffett calling for the elimination of that deduction in the name of fairness.
Mr. Buffett has also already sheltered the bulk of his fortune from federal taxes by putting them into a foundation that will give the money away. That's an act of generosity, but if the government's purposes are so vital, why doesn't he simply give the money to the IRS?
Rebecca Quick of CNBC put that question to Mr. Buffett in 2007. His answer: "Well, that's a choice and it's an option . . . If I had to give it to a single individual, or make some young Buffett a multibillionaire, or give it to the government, I'd absolutely give it to the government. I think that on balance the Gates Foundation, my daughter's foundation, my two sons' foundations will do a better job with lower administrative costs and better selection of beneficiaries than the government."
Mr. Buffett is no doubt right about the relative efficiency of private donors, but should billionaire philanthropists get such a large tax preference? Another case of fairness?
Mr. Buffett is one of the great stock-pickers of his time, and we don't begrudge him a single dollar of his wealth. We only wish that, having already made himself rich, he weren't so intent on making it harder for others to become rich too. If he's worried about being undertaxed, we'd suggest he simply write a big check to Uncle Sam and go back to his day job of picking investments.