How the Richest People in America Avoid Paying Taxes
Briefly

A detailed analysis finds the richest Americans face an average effective tax rate of roughly 24 percent, far below commonly cited figures. The research combines corporate earnings, private wealth data, and anonymized IRS records to measure taxes of the Forbes 400 — the roughly 0.0002 percent of households with a minimum net worth near $3.3 billion. The findings show that wealthy individuals use reported losses and other accounting strategies to shelter income under existing law, producing lower effective rates than many millionaires and middle-class professionals. Recent policy changes under Donald Trump have contributed to the decline and are expected to keep rates low.
And it confirms that the country's tax code is regressive, not progressive, at the very top. Every year, America's richest citizens paper over their earnings with losses and use other creative accounting strategies to shelter their fortunes, as the tax code allows them to do. As a result, the country's billionaires pay lower tax rates than many of its millionaires do. Indeed, they pay lower tax rates than many middle-class professionals.
The study, by the UC Berkeley economists Akcan Balkir, Emmanuel Saez, Danny Yagan, and Gabriel Zucman, examines the wealth of Americans on the Forbes 400-not the 1 percent or even 0.01 percent, but the 0.0002 percent, a group including Larry Ellison, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Trump himself. As of this year, these individuals have a minimumnet worth of $3.3 billion.
Read at The Atlantic
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