U.S. President Barack Obama is thinking about creating a new tax for
America’s super rich. This means anyone with an annual income of a
million dollars or more. The plan is part of his ongoing efforts to
reduce the country’s huge deficit. Details of the new tax have not yet
been unveiled. White House insiders say apart from raising more money,
the aim is to ensure top earners are not paying lower tax rates than
middle earners. The idea for the new taxes came from billionaire
investor Warren Buffett. Obama quoted from him in a speech he made in
August, arguing that the nation’s richest individuals have been “coddled
long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress”. Obama will also end
tax breaks for gas and oil companies.
Warren Buffett outlined his proposals to put higher taxes on the rich in
the New York Times. He wrote that the income tax he paid last year was
$6,938,744, going on to say: “That sounds like a lot of money, but what I
paid was only 17.4 per cent of my taxable income and that’s actually a
lower percentage than was paid by any of the other 20 people in our
office.” He highlighted how unfair the tax system was and how it
favoured the mega-rich by saying that his middle-class employees had tax
burdens ranging from 33 per cent to 41 per cent, with an average of 36
per cent.” Mr Buffett said there were too many tax loopholes, which
meant the richest pay relatively less tax. Reports say the proposal is
likely to be called the Buffett Rule.
(source: breakingnewsenglish.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment