Thread by @dicktofel

BREAKING: This morning @propublica has what I consider the most important story we have ever published.
It concerns a trove of secret IRS files we were given on the tax returns of the nation’s richest people. The findings are extraordinary.
propublica.org/article/the-se…

Turns out that many of the ultra wealthy pay NO income taxes for entire years— Soros three times, Bezos and Icahn twice, Musk and Bloomberg once. Bezos one year even claimed a $4000 child credit.

As a percentage of their gains in wealth, Buffett has paid 0.1% (10 cents on every $100), Bezos 1.1%, Bloomberg 1.3%, the 25 richest as a group just 3.4%.
Even on just their income, the richest pay less than 16%, far below the 37% top rate:
propublica.org/article/you-ma…

The 25 richest Americans are collectively worth $1.1 trillion. It takes 14.3 million average wage earners to tally the same wealth. The average earner group paid literally 70 times as much in income taxes in 2018 as the 25.

Here’s a note from @steveengelberg and I about why we’re publishing, and what we’re saying about sourcing, privacy and the law:
propublica.org/article/why-we…

Here’s @propublica's methodology on calculating true tax rates as a percentage of gains in wealth by the richest, as well as relative tax burdens on average wage earners:
propublica.org/article/how-we…

Today’s articles are the first in a series. Here’s how to help @propublica do more reporting:
projects.propublica.org/tips/help-us-r…