US tax authorities have launched an investigation into a leak of private records of billionaires including Warren Buffett, Jeff Bezos, Mike Bloomberg and Elon Musk that showed many of them have paid little tax even as their wealth ballooned.
ProPublica published details of what it called “a vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data” covering more than 15 years of tax returns from thousands of the wealthiest Americans. The non-profit investigative journalism outlet did not disclose the source of the leak.
Its report concluded that legal tax-avoidance strategies had allowed the 25 richest Americans to pay just $13.6bn in federal income taxes in the five years to 2018, even as the rising value of their stocks, properties and other assets had inflated their collective wealth by an estimated $401bn.
Charles Rettig, the IRS commissioner, told a Senate finance committee hearing that the agency had opened an investigation to uncover the source of the leak. He said he shared “the concerns of every American” that sensitive confidential information had been disclosed.
Bloomberg, the former New York mayor and US presidential candidate, pledged to use “all legal means” to uncover the source of the leak. The founder of the eponymous financial information group pushed back at the article’s premise, saying that he “scrupulously obeys the letter and spirit of the law” and distributes about three-quarters of his annual income in taxes and charitable giving.
“The release of a private citizen’s tax returns should raise real privacy concerns regardless of political affiliation or views on tax policy,” he said in a statement. “We intend to use all legal means at our disposal to determine which individual or government entity leaked these and ensure that they are held responsible.”
The country’s wealthiest, who profited immensely during the pandemic, have not been paying their fair share
The leak comes as some Democrats are advocating a tax on the richest Americans’ total wealth, rather than focusing on annual incomes which can be offset by deductions, borrowing and investment losses.
