Beanie Babies Billionaire is a Tax Cheat

Ty Warner, the billionaire behind Beanie Babies, will find out this week how bad his sentence will be when a federal judge sends him behind bars to cry like a baby for up to five years for evading taxes on $25 million in income.

Tax Dodger Richard Branson Says He is no Tax Dodger

Richard Branson has sold his British home to his kids and has fled Britain for Neker Island according to the Sunday Times.

Another day, another billionaire dodging taxes

Welcome to Puerto Rico, newly laundered billionaires!

Well, the signs or the brochures really don't read like that, of course.

But, this is what it looks like for hedge fund operator John "Dodger" Paulson.

Bloomberg reports that John Paulson "is exploring a move to Puerto Rico, where a new law would eliminate taxes on gains from the $9.5 billion he has invested in his own hedge funds, according to four people who have spoken to him about a possible relocation."

Facebook pays ZERO corporate taxes and celebrates!

Corporate Welfare Queen? Mark Zuckerberg?

Warren Buffett: Tax the rich to bring joy and glad tidings to the middle class

TODAY Show:

MATT LAUER, TODAY: So bottom line, would raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans have a chilling effect on hiring in this country?

WARREN BUFFETT: No, and I think would have a great effect in terms of the morale of the middle class, who have seen themselves paying high payroll taxes, income taxes. And then they watch guys like me end up paying a rate that’s below that, you know, paid by the people in my office.

Warren Buffett flips and flops, again

Warren Buffett's Jiu-Jitsu 

Jiu-jitsu "is a martial art, martial art, combat sport, and a self defense system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting." (Wikipedia)

Warren Buffett dazzles the MSNBC crowd 

As we all know, on a weekly basis, and for years, Warren Buffett has been able to dazzle, out talk and persuade a very gullible (and economically challenged) audience at MSNBC (and elsewhere) on a number of very crazy notions over the years.

This has been, and he has been very successful for the most part.

Warren Buffett attempts to dazzle Washington D.C.'s Economic Club

This week, Warren attempted to sell his usual propaganda to a wider (more sophisticated?) audience.

He attempted to set the record straight, Warren-style.

He attempted to dazzle them with facts.

He attempted a retreat to the middle ground.

Listen to this stuff!

"I support certain Republicans. Actually this year I gave money to a Republican congressman." 

[Federal Election Commission data shows that Virginia Republican Scott Rigell a donation of $2,500 from Warren Himself; although that is somewhat less than the $70,000 he has given to help re-elect President Obama].

Warren Buffett drinks his own home-brewed Kool-Aid 

 "We're not smarter than the people in 1930, we don't worker harder than the people in 1930, we just have a system that works and has been working since 1776 and will keep working."

Eduardo Saverin of Facebook kisses the U. S. Goodbye

Eduardo Saverin on Forbes - #634 Forbes Billionaires, #212 Forbes 400

Eduardo Saverin,  Brazilian-born American internet entrepreneur and co-founder of Facebook, has just renounced his US citizenship.

An obvious preview and bet on US tax policy in 2013.

Warren Buffett, please answer your Macroeconomic Tax Policy phone line.

Rich in France? Good luck!

Socialist president-elect François Hollande:

“I do not like the rich” and he plans to slap them down with a 75 per cent income tax rate.

Warren Buffett Mouths Off About Augusta National

Warren Buffett, a member of Augusta National Golf Club, and also a member of the elite Ask My Opinion Please group, says women belong at the golf club.

Following the Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRK/A) annual meeting in Omaha, Nebraska this weekend, Professor Buffett said: “I’m not telling the group at Augusta what to do, but if I were running the club I’d have plenty of women.”

Protesters Hit Berkshire Hathaway

Two boisterous protest groups have invaded Omaha Nebraska and specifically Berkshire Hathaway's annual meeting this weekend.

One group of protesters is from Southern California (of course) and desires above all hope to persuade (Berkshire's unit) Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad to relocate a container-handling facility it plans to build near their neighborhood.

The other protesters are allegedly associated with the local Occupy Omaha (OO is a splinter division of the OWS) group. OO spokesperson D'Shawn Cunningham says the group plans to address concerns about wealth inequality and corporate governance policy practices in the U.S. Basically, OO had a free weekend free on their busy calendar.

Warren Buffett, chairman of  Berkshire Hathaway, could not be reached for comment. Mr. Buffett was working on a new tax policy for the federal government to soak the rich even more. "I'm not messing around this time. They deserve to get hit and hit hard," said the bridge playing very close friend of fellow billionaire, Bill Gates.

Chris Christie: fed up with Warren Buffett

"He (Warren Buffett) should just write a check and shut up!" 

Christie: "I'm tired of hearing about it. If he wants to give the government more money, he's got the ability to write a check -- go ahead and write it!!!"

Warren Buffett: Eat the Rich

Warren Buffett sends pennies to Washington

Warren Buffett, trapped in a half-baked, crazy tax matching program challenge with Congress reported here at Think Billions; apparently will pay up after all.

Acting like a pensioner who thinks a 25-cent tip is sufficient for the kid to park his car at the country club, Warren Buffett has promised a check to the United States Treasury for just over $49,000.

Who says billionaires are not generous human beings?

Warren Buffett continues to show how a founding member of the 1% Club tips like the 1% giving less than 1%. A true role model for citizens everywhere.

And yes, old Warren was spotted by our reporters recently in downtown Omaha laughing his way to his local bank. A public relations embarrassment turns out all right after all for the family balance sheet.

And Happy Valentine's Day to you Warren Buffett, well in advance, from Think Billions!

Warren Buffett Mouths Off (again) About Taxes

Warren Buffett, trapped in a controversy about tax policy, is again mouthing off like an 81 year old off trying to find his medication container.

With Senators telling the geriatric investor that if he [Buffett] authentically felt "guilty" about paying too low a tax rate, he should "send in a check," old Warren has responded with some sort of half-baked, half-crazy matching program deal (which will never take place) with the Senators.

This is what amounts to an economic debate on tax policy in the United States of America these days.

This is also a demonstration of the Warren Buffett Public Relations Machine deflecting how he isn't doing his fair share as a long-time Card Carrying Member of the 1%.


Our Think Billions blog recommendation to the long time billionaire is: stick to investing in China, Warren (search for recent stories).

Bill Gates: Tax Me and Tax Me Again

At a recent talk at the University of Washington, software billionaire Bill Gates explains why he is an enthusiastic "tax and tax again" billionaire.

(After all, it is all very cool talk these days, this "tax me" stuff; since very few billionaires like Mr. Gates were even close to being greedy billionaires on the way up. Correct? So, these billionaire public relations tours are just all very, very cool to listen to if you enjoy listening to a re-writing of U.S. business history.)

Gates gave a talk at the University of Washington's computer science building regarding a whole ranges of subjects. He commented:

"I didn’t start out with the dream of being super-rich. And even after we started Microsoft, and the guys who ran Intel -- Gordon Moore and those guys -- were billionaires, I was like, 'Wow, that must be strange.' And so -- it is, it's quite strange."

Jee, Bill, wow.

"So I can understand wanting to have millions of dollars, because there's meaningful freedom that comes with that. But once you get much beyond that -- you know, I have to tell you, it's the same hamburger. Dick's has not raised their prices enough. But, you know, being ambitious is good. You just have to pick what you enjoy doing."

Yeah, hamburgers.

"In terms of the very rich ... Warren Buffett and I are the two wealthiest Americans -- are certainly believing that the rich should be taxed a lot more...and the rich should give away more wealth than they currently do. And we've certainly been willing to speak out about that."

Speak out! And and reach out, Bill! Keep reaching out.

New York City tries to steal millions in "back taxes" from hedge fund manager

By LAURA SAUNDERS

What a difference four days can make.

Billionaire Julian Robertson won a $27 million tax case after he successfully argued that he wasn't a New York City resident for the year 2000 and didn't owe city taxes.

At issue was Mr. Robertson's whereabouts on four days during that leap year: April 15, July 23, July 31 and Nov. 16. The other 362 days were accounted for, with documentary proof of 183 days spent in the city and 179 spent outside. The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance argued that because he didn't have documentary proof for the four days, he was therefore a resident and owed city taxes of $26,792,341.



WSJ article