Bezos “forgot to thank Americans who actually paid taxes”

by



[ad_1]

  • Senator Elizabeth Warren criticized Jeff Bezos for not paying taxes after returning to earth.
  • Warren has criticized Bezos’ tax rate before, including after an explosive report from ProPublica revealed how little the wealthiest pay.
  • Warren is also a longtime advocate of a wealth tax for those with more than $ 50 million.

Senator Elizabeth Warren attacked Jeff Bezos after the richest man in the world returned to Earth after his trip to suborbital space with Blue Origin.

Bezos addressed a crowd on Tuesday while donning a cowboy hat, saying he wanted to “thank every Amazon employee and every Amazon customer because you paid for it all.”

“Jeff Bezos forgot to thank all the hard working Americans who paid taxes to make this country work when he and Amazon paid nothing.” Warren tweeted, shortly after Rep. Ocasio-Cortez criticized Bezos.

This isn’t the first time Warren has targeted Bezos and his taxes. As Insider’s Avery Hartmans previously reported, Warren told TMZ that Bezos “doesn’t care about every person in America who actually pays taxes. Jeff Bezos’ trip to space is funded by all the rest of the taxpayers. Americans who paid their taxes so Jeff Bezos didn’t have to. “

His remarks came after an explosive report from ProPublica revealed how low taxes the richest Americans pay. This report said that Bezos had not paid income taxes for two years; in fact, in 2011 he would have received a tax credit of $ 4,000 intended for families earning less than $ 100,000. Insider Lynnley Browning also previously reported that Amazon paid no income tax in 2017 and 2018.

Although the methods used by the wealthiest Americans to pay relatively few taxes are legal, they have sparked discussions from lawmakers about the need for tax reform.

Warren is a long-time proponent of a wealth tax. His proposal, the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act, targets households with a net worth of $ 50 million or more. Households with $ 50 million to $ 1 billion would see a 2% tax; those with more than a billion dollars would see a 3% tax.

An analysis by the Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies Project on Inequality found that, with Warren’s tax, Bezos would have paid $ 5.7 billion in taxes in 2020.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.



[ad_2]

Source link