Joe Biden recently tweeted his thoughts on how billionaires should pay their “fair share and got humiliated near-instantly by community fact-checkers who just weren’t having it and “added context” to his post with a fact-check that exposed the truth behind what he was saying.
Biden said in his post, “Look, I think you should be able to be a billionaire if you can earn it, but just pay your fair share. I think you ought to pay a minimum tax of 25%. It’s about basic fairness.” The post is followed by a photo with a quote from Biden, stating, “You know the average tax billionaires pay? Three percent. No billionaire should be paying a lower tax than somebody working as a schoolteacher or firefighter.”
Look, I think you should be able to be a billionaire if you can earn it, but just pay your fair share.
I think you ought to pay a minimum tax of 25%.
It’s about basic fairness. pic.twitter.com/oHgreYCdUz
— President Biden (@POTUS) March 18, 2023
As you can imagine, the responses in the comment section ranged from conservatives pointing out that everyone is already being overtaxed and socialists arguing billionaires are exploiting workers.
However, one of the most popular responses to Biden was Elon Musk slamming the assertion that he only pays 3% in taxes. Musk said, “I paid 53% taxes on my Tesla stock options (40% Federal & 13% state), so I must be lifting the average! I also paid more income tax than anyone ever in the history of Earth for 2021 and will do that again in 2022. @CommunityNotes, is the 3% number cited above accurate?”
He continued, “I certainly agree that everyone should pay taxes and not engage in elaborate tax-avoidance schemes. Would be curious to hear how these other “billionaires” are so good at avoiding taxes! We should get rid of GRATs, but maybe other things too.”
I paid 53% taxes on my Tesla stock options (40% Federal & 13% state), so I must be lifting the average!
I also paid more income tax than anyone ever in the history of Earth for 2021 and will do that again in 2022.@CommunityNotes, is the 3% number cited above accurate?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 18, 2023
Elon did indeed pay a massive amount in taxes for 2021, as even CNN Business admitted in an article complaining about Tesla not having to pay anything in taxes for that year, saying:
Elon Musk has repeatedly bragged (or, perhaps, complained) that he’ll pay more in federal taxes for 2021 than anyone has ever paid — about $11 billion. But Tesla apparently won’t pay a cent.
Tesla may not plan to pay federal taxes any time in the foreseeable future – even though the company just reported by far its most profitable year ever. In 2021, Tesla recorded net income of $5.5 billion, and adjusted income of $7.6 billion.
But buried in a footnote of its recent annual financial filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Tesla reports that its US operations lost $130 million last year on a pre-tax basis. It claims that all of its pre-tax profits — more than $6 billion worth — came from overseas operations, even though 45% of its revenue came from US sales.
Chief Economist and Global Strategist Peter Schiff also criticized taxation and how the government is so inefficient at managing tax revenue.
Schiff said, “The country would be much better off if you were able to keep that money, and were able to invest it productively, rather than turning it over to government to blow it on consumption. Our nation will suffer a lower standard of living as a result.”
The country would be much better off if you were able to keep that money, and were able to invest it productively, rather than turning it over to government to blow it on consumption. Our nation will suffer a lower standard of living as a result.
— Peter Schiff (@PeterSchiff) March 19, 2023
Indeed, though that horrible state of things shows no signs of changing as the Biden Administration keeps wasting increasingly eye-popping amounts of money on everything from the losing cause in Ukraine to welfare policies at home, all while the cities crumble under the weight of increased crime and the border is overrun by illegal immigrants.
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