Warren Buffett today continued pushing lawmakers for a minimum tax rate on Americans whose income is higher than $1 million on interviews with MSNBC and NBC’s The Today Show. Currently, lawmakers are trying to avoid the fiscal cliff, a collection of tax increases that adds up to more than $600 billion. The increases would start in January if lawmakers do not take steps to prevent them.
Warren Buffett: Increased Taxes For The Wealthy Won’t Chill Investors
In today’s interview with MSNBC, Warren Buffett said he doesn’t believe that increasing tax rates for the wealthy would prevent them from continuing to invest. However, he does think that it would raise middle class morale. Warren Buffett’s remarks are the opposite of defeated Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who said he believed that keeping tax rates low for the wealthy would encourage growth of the economy.
On Monday ValueWalk covered Buffett’s op-ed piece about the minimum tax, which was published in the New York Times. In 2010, Buffett’s tax bill was about 17 percent of his taxable income, or almost $7 million. According to Warren Buffett, he paid a lower tax rate than employees at his Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A) (NYSE:BRK.B)’s office in Nebraska. In Monday’s article, Warren Buffett proposed a 30 percent minimum tax rate for millionaires.
Warren Buffett On The Today Show
On The Today Show, Matt Lauer asked Warren Buffett if he thought Congress would really pass a minimum tax rate bill similar to what he proposed in his op-ed article, and he told Lauer that he would not be surprised if they did.
Lauer also asked Warren Buffett about a new book which follows his career as published in 80 articles from FORTUNE Magazine. Warren Buffett told Lauer, “I couldn’t be more boring. I just look at the facts and wherever they lead me, I go.”
FORTUNE Magazine editor Carol Loomis told TODAY that Warren Buffett has been very consistent in his thinking throughout the years and that he has never changed his economic philosophy.
