It investigates leaks from the records of billionaires who show that the U.S. pays little in taxes

U.S. tax authorities have launched an investigation, including a leak of the private records of billionaires Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, Mike Bloomberg and Elon Musk, many of whom showed that they paid little. tax even though their wealth increased.

ProPublica published details of what he called the “broad set of data from the Internal Revenue Service,” which includes tax returns for more than 15 years of the wealthiest thousands of Americans. The nonprofit investigative journalism outlet did not disclose the origin of the leak.

His report concluded that tax avoidance strategies would pay the richest 25 Americans only $ 13.6 billion in federal income taxes in five years in 2018, even as the rising values ​​of their stocks, properties and other assets inflated their collective wealth. approximately $ 401 billion.

Charles Rettig IRS the commissioner, after hearing from the Senate Finance Committee that the agency had opened an investigation to find the source of the leak. He said he shared “the concerns of all Americans” because sensitive confidential information was disclosed.

Jen Psaki, a White House press secretary, said it was “illegal” for a person with access to disclose confidential government information without permission and took it “very seriously”. The IRS said the leak was directed at the Department of the Treasury’s general inspection for the tax administration, sending the FBI and a U.S. attorney sent to the Columbia district in the Columbia district.

However, Psaki said the leak highlighted that “there is more to be done by corporations and individuals” in taxes proposed by President Joe Biden to pay “a larger share of their fair share”.

The richest people in the country, who made huge profits in the pandemic, do not pay their fair share

Former New York mayor and U.S. presidential candidate Bloomberg has promised to use “all legal means” to determine the origin of the leak. The founder of the financial information group of the same name backed the premise of the article, saying it “strictly complies with the letter and spirit of the law” and distributes about three-quarters of its annual revenue in taxes and charitable results.

“Publishing the statements of a private citizen should raise privacy concerns, regardless of political affiliation or opinion about tax policy,” he said in a statement. “We intend to use all legal means at our disposal to find out which people or government entities have leaked these and to ensure that they will be held accountable.”

The leak comes as some Democrats do defending a tax on the total wealth of the wealthiest Americans, rather than focusing on annual income that can be offset by deductions, indebtedness, and loss of investment.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts introduced legislation this spring to impose a 2% tax on people with a value above $ 50 million, with another 1 percent surcharge set on wealth of more than $ 1 billion. If President Joe Biden has it proposed increases for those who earn more than a million dollars in the tax rate on capital gains and dividends but has not favored the wealth tax.

Warren took over the ProPublica report, writing on Twitter that it showed that it was time for “the ultra-rich to finally pay their fair share”.

Morris Pearl, president of a group of wealthier tax campaigners called the Patriotic Millionaires, said the report reinforces the argument that wealthier Americans can choose to “basically pay taxes or not.”

He said his team advocated taxes on capital wealth and higher taxes when it was launched in 2010 were “marginal ideas”, but that sentiment has changed and ProPublica’s publications may encourage more support.

Bloomberg and Buffett have been among the billions of people who have been demanding higher taxes on wealthier Americans for several years, but the economic division suffered by the pandemic has heightened their political stakes.

ProPublic said it has decided to disclose the details, “only by seeing the details can people understand the reality of the country’s tax system.”

Ron WydenAn Oregon Democrat who heads the Senate finance committee said the ProPublic report showed that “the richest people in the country, who have made a huge profit during the pandemic, are not paying their fair share.”