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 华伦大叔说富人赋税太少，我才付17%。黑石老总斯蒂文大叔说，不对， |
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ceo/cfo
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作者：ceo/cfo 在 海归商务 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
我付了53%。谁对谁错？ 
Schwarzman Takes Aim at Buffett on Taxing the Rich
By Robert Frank
Steve Schwarzman is emerging as the anti-Buffett of the tax debate.
Reuters In an interview on CNBC yesterday, the CEO of Blackstone Group was asked about Warren Buffett’s claim that the rich pay lower tax rates than everyday workers. Mr. Buffett’s oft-repeated anecdote, made again in the New York Times op-ed, is that he pays a federal income-tax rate of only 17%, while his secretary pays 35%.
Schwarzman told Maria Bartiromo that he pays a much higher tax rate: 53% to be exact.
“My personal taxes are 53% of my taxable income,” he said. “That’s 36% on the federal level and 17% for state and local.”
Mr. Schwarzman’s broader point is wealthy people like him pay at or near the maximum tax rates, rather than the rock-bottom discounts paid by Buffett. He said his 53% rate is “one of the highest in the world” and that our tax code needs to be simplified with a flat tax or flat tax with “one or two tiers.”
Yet the 53% number is worth examining, since the average effective federal-income tax rate (i.e. the taxes actually paid) for people making $1 million or more is only 29%, according to the Roberton Williams at the Tax Policy Center.
Let’s just consider Schwarzman’s statement about the 36%. He specifies that the percentage is against his “taxable income.” This qualifier raises the tax rate, since ”taxable income” subtracts deductions like charity and mortgage interest. Mr. Schwarzman gives millions to charity so his deductions are likely large. The rate on his total income would be lower.
In fairness, Buffett also used taxable income as his measurement. But that only strengthens Buffett’s point, since the tax rate against his total income would also be lower.
But what about investment income?
Most rich people have significant income from their investments, which get taxed at a much lower rate. Buffet’s income from capital gains and dividends — taxed at 15% — are the reason he pays such a low rate. The higher you go up the income ladder, the greater share of income comes from investment income.
The top federal-income tax rate on ordinary income is only 35%. In order for Mr. Schwarzman to pay 36%, virtually all his income would have to be ordinary income. Adding in payroll taxes would get him to 36%.
Schwarzman’s published salary as CEO is a measly $350,000. He makes much more than that, of course. Much of his income comes from dividends from Blackstone, since he owns 23% of the firm. And Blackstone reported net income of $1.4 billion last year.
Yet since those dividends likely flow to him as a distribution from the company, they would probably be reported and taxed as ordinary income. So that supports his case.
As for his investment portfolio, he surely has investments outside Blackstone. But it’s possible that those investments could be tax-free New York muni bonds (which don’t count as taxable income) or other alternative investments that get taxed at a higher rate.
Despite all of that, several accountants said Mr. Schwarzman’s 36% rate was highly unusual — especially in the private-equity world.
Michael Oates, the head of the national tax practice Rothstein Cass, and one of the leading accountants to private-equity and hedge-fund chiefs in New York, said he’s never had a private-equity client pay an effective federal tax rate of 36%.
“Not if they done any planning,” Oates said. “I can’t say I’ve had any clients pay that amount. It doesn’t seem likely.”
Maybe Schwarzman is a special case. Or maybe he just needs a better accountant.
作者：ceo/cfo 在 海归商务 发贴, 来自【海归网】 http://www.haiguinet.com
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 华伦大叔说富人赋税太少，我才付17%。黑石老总斯蒂文大叔说，不对， -- ceo/cfo - (3641 Byte) 2011-9-09 周五, 04:45 (2082 reads)
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