Portal Login:
  • Clients
  • Providers
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
    Portal Login:
  • Clients
  • Providers
  • About Mitchell MCN
  • Careers
  • MCNTalk
  • Contact Us

Mitchell MCN

The Power of a Second Look

  • Services
    • Independent Medical Examinations
    • Medical Peer Reviews
    • Bill Review Services
    • Utilization Reviews
  • Expertise
    • Short and Long-Term Disability
    • Workers’ Compensation
    • Auto/PIP/Casualty/Liability
    • Independent Review Organization Services
  • For Clients
  • For Providers
  • Your Exam
    • About Your Exam
    • About Your External Review
    • Contact & Scheduling
  • Schedule Now
  • About Mitchell MCN
  • MCNTalk
  • Careers
  • Contact Us

MCNTalk
News, Insights & Opinions

Home / MCNTalk / It’s nice to have friends in high places

August 17, 2011

It’s nice to have friends in high places

To quote Berkshire  Hathaway Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Warren Buffett in an Op Ed piece in The New York Times this week, “We mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks…These and other blessings are showered upon us by legislators in Washington who feel compelled to protect us, much as if we were spotted owls or some other endangered species. It’s nice to have friends in high places.”

Specifically what Buffett suggests is: “for those making more than $1 million — there were 236,883 such households in 2009 — I would raise rates immediately on taxable income in excess of $1 million, including, of course, dividends and capital gains. And for those who make $10 million or more — there were 8,274 in 2009 — I would suggest an additional increase in rate. ”

His reasoning? Buffett notes, “Our leaders have asked for ‘shared sacrifice.’ But when they did the asking, they spared me. I checked with my mega-rich friends to learn what pain they were expecting. They, too, were left untouched.

“While the poor and middle class fight for us in Afghanistan, and while most Americans struggle to make ends meet, we mega-rich continue to get our extraordinary tax breaks. Some of us are investment managers who earn billions from our daily labors but are allowed to classify our income as ‘carried interest,’ thereby getting a bargain 15 percent tax rate. Others own stock index futures for 10 minutes and have 60 percent of their gain taxed at 15 percent, as if they’d been long-term investors.”

With regard to his own taxes, Buffett notes: “Last year my federal tax bill — the income tax I paid, as well as payroll taxes paid by me and on my behalf — was $6,938,744. That sounds like a lot of money. But what I paid was only 17.4 percent of my taxable income — and that’s actually a lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our office. Their tax burdens ranged from 33 percent to 41 percent and averaged 36 percent.”

Buffett explains this variance: “To understand why, you need to examine the sources of government revenue. Last year about 80 percent of these revenues came from personal income taxes and payroll taxes. The mega-rich pay income taxes at a rate of 15 percent on most of their earnings but pay practically nothing in payroll taxes. It’s a different story for the middle class: typically, they fall into the 15 percent and 25 percent income tax brackets, and then are hit with heavy payroll taxes to boot.”

Given that Buffett is one of the world’s wealthiest people and most successful investors, his is a very interesting perspective indeed. Read more…

47.608945-122.332015

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Email
  • More
  • Facebook
  • Reddit
  • Print

Tagged: Cost Containment Leave a Comment

Previous Post
Next Post

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

12 + eighteen =

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • March Clinic Calendars Are Available
  • Mitchell MCN’s Client Portal Login Page is Changing
  • IRO Team to Host Webinar about Genetics on Dec. 5, 2019
  • December Clinic Calendars are Now Available
  • Mitchell MCN’s IRO Team to Host CEU in December

Archives

Footer


  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn

Quick Links

  • Services
  • Expertise
  • About Mitchell MCN
  • Careers

Division Headquarters

Mitchell MCN
1301 5th Ave., Ste. 2900
Seattle, WA 98101

See all offices

Email Us

General Inquiries: info@mcn.com
Sales & Marketing: marketing@mcn.com

Call Us

206.343.6100
800.248.6269

© Copyright 2021 Mitchell International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.