Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said Tuesday he would like to examine billionaire investment guru Warren Buffett’s tax claims more closely.
“I’d love to see Buffett’s tax returns so we can see what he’s really doing, because he’s kind of operating in the dark here, making some claims,” DeMint told Bloomberg Television.
Republicans have resisted Obama’s proposed “Buffett rule,” which would ensure that his $447 billion jobs bill is paid for by raising taxes on the wealthy — a nod to billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who has called on lawmakers to increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
Buffett has long claimed that he pays taxes at a lower rate than his own secretary, and urged Congress to stop “coddling” him and his “mega-rich” friends.
“If he’s paying taxes on capital gains, taxes have been paid by the corporations before they gave it to him,” DeMint said. “He may not be paying it personally, but the tax is being paid at a higher rate than his secretary’s making.”
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) earlier this week also rejected Buffett’s claim that he paid a lower tax rate than his secretary did last year, saying that taxing Buffett's capital gains would be double taxation. That is exactly what Obama’s plan proposes to do, Ryan said, by raising the tax on capital.
