How the Ultrawealthy Legally Avoid Paying Taxes

It’s not uncommon to hear that some of the wealthiest Americans pay less tax than the average taxpayer or, sometimes, no tax at all. However, there hasn’t been much, if any, proof or an understanding of how they get away with it until recently. ProPublica, somehow, got IRS records of many of the wealthiest Americans and in June of 2021, published an article and video showing what these people’s effective tax rates were and how they did it.

Tax Rate

In recent years, the median American household earned about $70,000 annually and paid 14% in federal taxes. The ultrawealthy, on the other hand, paid less than 3.5% from 2014 to 2018.

Wealth GrowthTotal Income ReportedTotal Taxes PaidTrue Tax Rate
Warren Buffet$24.3B$125M$23.7M0.10%
Jeff Bezos$99.0B$4.22B$973M0.98%
Michael Bloomberg$22.5B$10.0B$292M1.30%
Elon Musk$13.9B$1.52B$455M3.27%
Source

Buy, Borrow, Die

According to ProPublica, the ultrawealthy are able to pay so little or nothing in taxes by living off of loans. Income tax is tax on any income you receive, like a paycheck. For most people, your employer withholds your taxes due so when annual taxes are due, you pay or get a return of the difference of your final taxes owed. Therefore, the less your income is, the less you pay in taxes. Wealth in the form of stocks and real estate can go up and down and is not taxable until you sell. You probably have heard of some CEOs getting a salary of only $1 a year. This might sound like they are extremely generous and humble but in reality, it’s a strategy for them to continue to live lavishly but pay very little in taxes. Since no one can live on a salary of $1 a year, they borrow money to pay for food, housing, yachts, airplanes, etc. And because they’re so rich, they can get a loan at a very low interest rate, like 3%. As an example, if a CEO gets a salary of $1M a year, then their tax rate would be 37% and their tax bill would be, assuming no deductions, $370K. However, if they borrow $1M and pay 3% interest, then they only pay $30K in interest and $0 in taxes assuming they took a salary of $1.

Steps

  1. BUY an asset (buy stock, real estate; build a company, etc).
    As long as they don’t sell, they don’t pay any taxes.
  2. BORROW against their holdings
    This is like when ordinary people do a cash-out refinance on their house. Since the ultrawealthy have good credit (and can just buy the bank they are borrowing money from), they get a super low interest rate.
  3. DIE and still not pay taxes
    Use complicated trusts and philanthropic foundations to avoid estate tax. Their heirs can inherit stocks and other assets tax-free.

A new generation starts ultrawealthy and the cycle starts all over again.

Sejarah Saudi Arabia (1774-2004)

Ini adalah terjemahan dari versi bahasa Inggris dari dokumen ini. Google Translate digunakan untuk sebagian besar terjemahan ini. Kalau terjemahhannya terdengar sedikit aneh, itu sebabnya.

Informasi di bawah ini adalah ringkasan dari dokumenter House of Saud oleh PBS Frontline. PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) adalah penyiar publik televisi non-komersial yang didanai oleh rakyat Amerika.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA1pftY5M4I

Informasi yang disajikan di bawah ini adalah untuk tujuan pendidikan dan perbandingan. Tak satu pun dari informasi dibawah merupakan pendapat pribadi.

Pendiri Wahabisme dan Keluarga Suku Al Saud

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, pendiri “Wahhabisme,” bentuk Islam yang keras, tiba di negara bagian tengah Najd di Arab pada tahun 1744 untuk mengumumkan pengembalian ke Islam yang “murni”. Dia mencari perlindungan dari amir setempat, Muhammad ibn Saud, kepala keluarga suku Al Saud, dan mereka membuat kesepakatan. Al Saud akan mendukung bentuk keras Islam al-Wahhab dan sebagai imbalannya, Al Saud akan mendapatkan legitimasi politik dan uang pajak dari pengikut al-Wahhab.

Saudi Arabia adalah tempat suku-suku yang berperang satu sama lain. Tidak ada persatuan di antara kelompok-kelompok itu.

Saudi pada tahun 1900

Di antara para pengembara, syekh dan amir adalah keluarga Al Saud.

Abdul Aziz ibn Al Saud ingin menyatukan suku-suku.

Abdul Aziz ibn Al Saud
Continue reading Sejarah Saudi Arabia (1774-2004)

History of Saudi Arabia (1774-2004)

The information below is a summary of the PBS Frontline documentary House of Saud. PBS (Public Broadcasting Service) is a non-commercial free-to-air television public broadcaster funded by the American people.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LA1pftY5M4I

The information presented below is for educational and comparative purposes. None of it is personal opinion.

The Founder of Wahhabism and the Al Saud Tribal Family

Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab, founder of “Wahhabism,” an austere form of Islam, arrives in the central Arabian state of Najd in 1744 preaching a return to “pure” Islam. He seeks protection from the local emir, Muhammad ibn Saud, head of the Al Saud tribal family, and they cut a deal. The Al Saud will endorse al-Wahhab’s austere form of Islam and in return, the Al Saud will get political legitimacy and regular tithes from al-Wahhab’s followers. 

Arabia was a place of warring tribes. There was no unity among the groups.

Arabia in 1900

Among the nomads, sheikhs and emirs was the family of Al Saud.

Abdul Aziz ibn Al Saud wanted to unite the tribes.

Abdul Aziz ibn Al Saud
Continue reading History of Saudi Arabia (1774-2004)

Fasting to Cure Diabetes, Hypertension, Cancer, Arthritis and Other Diseases

Apparently, fasting for 2 to 3 weeks while only drinking water can oftentimes permanently cure diseases like diabetes, hypertension and rheumatoid arthritis. It can also expedite the curing of cancer and other diseases. You basically starve the cells causing the disease. This extreme type of fasting must be done in a supervised environment with doctors checking your health periodically.

Some water fasting clinics include

Watch the full 1-hour documentary at https://www.amazon.com/Science-Fasting-Sylvie-Gilman/dp/B075848T5T.

The first 3 days of water fasting are the worse but afterwards, people don’t feel hungry anymore and they begin to actually feel good. The body then adapts and gets detoxed. Headaches may occur.

Continue reading Fasting to Cure Diabetes, Hypertension, Cancer, Arthritis and Other Diseases

Global Economic Crisis

By now, many of you have probably noticed that the economic crisis that started back in 2008 isn’t over and doesn’t seem to be ending any time soon. Furthermore, demonstrations are taking place more and  more all around the world. Corrupt governments all over the Middle East are being toppled. If you haven’t already done so, I highly suggest you watch some or all of the following videos to learn the real cause of the economic meltdown the world is going through. The more informed you are, the better we can be at preventing governments and Wall Street from letting it happen again.