Jeff Bezos Elon Musk S fortunes paid 3 percent taxes in the same period in which their net wealth soared by more than 400,000 million dollars.

In the midst of the debate on the global reform of the taxation of multinationals, the constant increase in the richness of the biggest fortunes in world despite of the economic crisis caused by the pandemic puts the level of taxation faced by the richest and the tax advantages enjoyed in the spotlight due to the rise of inequality in the developed economies.

Thus, the percentage of taxes that have faced the billionaires has been reduced at the same time that their wealth skyrocketed, according to a report by ProPublica in which it is revealed that the 25 largest fortunes in the US paid an effective tax rate of 3.4% between 2014 and 2018, the same period in which their net worth grew by more than 400,000 million euros (about 328,000 million euros), according to The Guardian.

Jeff Bezos Elon Musk S fortunes paid 3 percent taxes

The independent news agency has come to that conclusion through the calculation of the so-called "tax real", an indicator that they have compared the federal income tax that you have paid these 25 great fortunes, including the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, or that of Tesla, Elon Musk, with the increase of their net wealth in the same period as reflected in the list of billionaires published by Forbes magazine in that same period.

In its study, ProPublica concludes that income and wealth inequality continues to increase in the US, pointing out that, while the assets of the 25 richest Americans increased by 401,000 million euros between 2014 and 2018, their tax returns show that they paid together about 13,600 million dollars (around 11,100 million euros).

Jeff Bezos Elon Musk S fortunes paid 3 percent taxes

These figures imply that the real tax rate faced by the 25 largest fortunes in the US was 3.4%, which contrasts with the 14% faced by an average American household, despite the fact that Americans with assets exceeding 523,600 dollars (on 429,700 euros) officially corresponds to a tax rate of 37%, after former President Donald Trump cut it from 39.6% in 2020, according to the agency's report.

Jeff Bezos Elon Musk S fortunes paid 3 percent taxes: In the case of Jeff Bezos, ProPublica has stressed that his fortune was increased in 99.000 million dollars (some 81.200 billion) between 2014 and 2018, when he paid a 0.98% in taxes, while Warren Buffett, founder of the fund, Berkshire Hathaway, saw his wealth increase in 24.300 million dollars (a little less than 20,000 million euros) and faced a tax of 0.1%, which rose to a of 3.27% in the case of Elon Musk.

The report criticizes that, although its research does not reveal illegal behavior, it does show how large fortunes have access to tax evasion strategies that are not available to other taxpayers and points out that their wealth grows by the increase in the value of their properties and shares, which are assets that US tax laws do not consider subject to taxation within the income tax until they are sold, according to the London newspaper.

Jeff Bezos Elon Musk S fortunes paid 3 percent taxes

More news:

A global agreement on technology taxation will force Spain to park the Google tax, but the key is whether this will happen before the first liquidation

The controversial Spanish Google tax should begin to settle at the end of next month. But this may never end up happening.

The "historic" agreement reached by the G7 last Saturday opens the door to a new minimum corporate tax in the whole planet of 15%, and the main powers thus signed their commitment to achieve a tax that imposes on large digital companies where they have business, and not where they are located.

For years, large platforms such as Facebook or Netflix have starred in tax dodges in Spain through their parent companies in Ireland. Spanish subsidiaries act as advertising managers, in some cases, thus minimizing the taxes they assume in the country for the income they generate in this market.

With the Google tax that came into force in mid-January, the Government of Pedro Sánchez intended to collect just under 1,000 million euros annually taxing with 3% the income generated in Spain these platforms for the provision of online advertising services, online intermediation services, or the sale of data generated from information provided by its users.

Although the debate has been arduous and prolonged over time, this Spanish Google rate, which follows in the footsteps of the rates introduced by countries around it, such as France, may not be liquidated. To date, the Council of State has not yet specified or developed the regulations so that companies can face these payments, as this medium recalled a couple of weeks ago.

Now, with the agreement of the G7, it is found that this Tax on Certain Digital Services could never be collected. The country notes something that was to be expected: the Ministry of Finance will "revise" its rate "when a global agreement is reached to tax multinationals more".

This G7 agreement was a first step, but the conclusion and global consensus have yet to come from within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), where discussions have been taking place for more than a year. These debates were torpedoed in the middle of last year at the expense of the Trump Administration.

The US Trade Representative recently announced the application of new tariffs on Spanish products valued at 323 million dollars. However, the announcement was simultaneous with the freezing of these tariffs: the Biden Administration hopes to be able to reach the agreement with the OECD before they come into force in 6 months.

The G7 agreement to create a worldwide minimum corporate tax of 15% will not affect the Spanish, which in fact rises to 25%, but will encourage these multinationals not to move to countries with advantageous taxation. 15% is the number formally proposed by the US to the OECD.

The fine print of this agreement is not yet known and in fact some experts warn that it could be insufficient: it proposes to tax mainly technology companies in markets where their profit margin exceeds 10%. Specialists consulted by The Guardian already warned in an article this Tuesday that this would open the door for multinationals to do accounting engineering to try to circumvent these new types.

In fact, Amazon, on paper, would get rid of what was agreed by the G7, although the multinational has acknowledged that it is willing to apply it. At the moment, and with the first settlement of the type at the end of July reeling, companies like Amazon or Google have raised their prices to their customers.