We then verified the information by comparing elements of it with dozens of already public tax details (in court documents, politicians’ financial disclosures and news stories) as well as by vetting it with individuals whose tax information is contained in the trove.
![trove free credits v3.1 trove free credits v3.1](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/jNQ4r_y0ee8/maxresdefault.jpg)
ProPublica reporters spent months processing and analyzing the material to transform it into a usable database. ProPublica is not disclosing how it obtained the data, which was given to us in raw form, with no conditions or conclusions. How We Calculated the True Tax Rates of the Wealthiest They also showed how people in poor regions are now more likely to be audited than those in affluent areas. The articles exposed how years of budget cuts have hobbled the agency’s ability to enforce the law and how the largest corporations and the rich have benefited from the IRS’ weakness.
#TROVE FREE CREDITS V3.1 SERIES#
The tax data was provided to ProPublica after we published a series of articles scrutinizing the IRS. ProPublica’s data shows that while some wealthy Americans, such as hedge fund managers, would pay more taxes under the current Biden administration proposals, the vast majority of the top 25 would see little change. But the American tax conversation has been dominated by debate over incremental changes, such as whether the top tax rate should be 39.6% rather than 37%. The president and Congress are considering the most ambitious tax increases in decades on those with high incomes. Wealth inequality has become one of the defining issues of our age. The revelations provided by the IRS data come at a crucial moment.
#TROVE FREE CREDITS V3.1 FULL#
Typical American Household Read our full methodology. The $1.4 billion he paid in personal federal taxes is a massive number - yet it amounts to a 1.1% true tax rate on the rise in his fortune. Bezos’ wealth increased by $127 billion, according to Forbes, but he reported a total of $6.5 billion in income. His tax avoidance is even more striking if you examine 2006 to 2018, a period for which ProPublica has complete data. What’s more, because, according to the tax law, he made so little, he even claimed and received a $4,000 tax credit for his children. In 2011, a year in which his wealth held roughly steady at $18 billion, Bezos filed a tax return reporting he lost money - his income that year was more than offset by investment losses. He was able to offset every penny he earned with losses from side investments and various deductions, like interest expenses on debts and the vague catchall category of “other expenses.” In that year, Bezos, who filed his taxes jointly with his then-wife, MacKenzie Scott, reported a paltry (for him) $46 million in income, largely from interest and dividend payments on outside investments. The IRS records show that the wealthiest can - perfectly legally - pay income taxes that are only a tiny fraction of the hundreds of millions, if not billions, their fortunes grow each year. Taken together, it demolishes the cornerstone myth of the American tax system: that everyone pays their fair share and the richest Americans pay the most. It shows not just their income and taxes, but also their investments, stock trades, gambling winnings and even the results of audits. The data provides an unprecedented look inside the financial lives of America’s titans, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg. ProPublica has obtained a vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people, covering more than 15 years. George Soros paid no federal income tax three years in a row. Billionaire investor Carl Icahn did it twice. Michael Bloomberg managed to do the same in recent years. In 2018, Tesla founder Elon Musk, the second-richest person in the world, also paid no federal income taxes. In 2007, Jeff Bezos, then a multibillionaire and now the world’s richest man, did not pay a penny in federal income taxes. Sign up to be notified when the next installment publishes. The Secret IRS Files is an ongoing reporting project.
![trove free credits v3.1 trove free credits v3.1](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/trove/images/b/bd/Ui_store_pack_credits_revised_20.png)
ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.