Tesla CEO and world’s richest person Elon Musk, who has an estimated net worth of $251 billion, was denounced yesterday by Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D–Mass.Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) denounced Elon Musk, who is known for his persistent pursuit to get billionaires and millionaires to contribute their fair share.
TimeWarren was just able to name Musk the Person of The Year. tweeted“Let’s reform the corrupt tax code so that The Person of Year actually pays taxes and stops freeloading on everyone else,” Musk said. Musk tried a few different responses on for size, including “You remind me of when I was a kid and my friend’s angry Mom would just randomly yell at everyone for no reason,” “Please don’t call the manager on me, Senator Karen,” and then “Don’t spend it all at once … oh wait you did already.”
If you paused for just 2 seconds you’d see that I have paid more taxes this year than any American ever.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 14, 2021
Musk’s best response was to counter the claim that he won’t pay taxes this year—a common talking point from those who won’t acknowledge that many ultra-rich founders and CEOs accrue such high net worths not via traditional salaries alone (or in some cases at all) but via a mix of stock options, capital gains, interests, dividends, and business income. Musk didn’t pay federal income tax in 2018, because he borrowed against Tesla shares. However, this year he could be responsible for paying between $9 billion to $10 billion if he exercises soon-to expire stock options.
It Wall Street Journal Musk is reported to be in the news
A regulatory filing states that he faces an August deadline for converting approximately 22.9million vested stock option into shares, or letting them expire worthless. To exercise these options, he would require $143 million and may owe over $9 billion in Medicare and federal income taxes.
California law would make it likely that Musk will be subject to a substantial state tax burden. Because of the way options are treated, they can also be considered part-earned compensation while Musk was living in California.
Though outlets like ProPublica engage in a fair bit of finger-wagging on the matter, many of the ways ultra-rich people avoid paying extremely high tax bills are perfectly legal. Many uber-wealthy individuals are equipped with financial advisors and can do many things that working-class and middle-class people cannot. They take out low-interest loans to supplement their income; when they sell their stocks, they consider how capital gains tax will affect their earnings; find other assets to store their wealth, or pass it on to their children without paying a lot to the federal government.
Warren was mocking Musk about not paying taxes “actually.” However, 61 per cent of Americans (roughly 100m households) agreed with Warren. Honestly, it’s true Did not pay federal income taxes in the last year. While last year may have been a surprise due to unemployment and stimulus checks it was still a significant number. It is typically between 40-47%, which includes people on low incomes or who are eligible for child-related tax credits. Approximately 20 percent of Americans don’t pay federal income taxes or payroll taxes.
The Tax Foundation reported that the top 25% of taxpayers paid approximately 87 percent of all federal income taxes in 2018. About 40% of federal income taxes is paid by the top 1 percent. Warren’s spending priorities are largely bankrolled by the richest people in America—to the extent that they’re bankrolled at all, as opposed to being added to the exorbitant national debt. Musk’s use government subsidies is part of her criticism. DoesIt is freeloading of taxpayers in America. However, the rest are misleading and disreputable.
Musk said that “the government is not inherently a good stewardship of capital.” Time For its Person of Year profile. Musk is likely to fork over this sum to those he correctly identified as being unlikely to spend the money well.