At least eighteen billionaires and some more of the country’s richest have received taxpayer-funded stimulus payments last spring, according to a report by ProPublica.
During the pandemic, the collective net worth of America’s roughly 700 billionaires surged by $2 trillion, thanks to a rise in stock prices and the values of other assets, according to Americans for Tax Fairness.
Under the law, the full payments of $1,200 per single taxpayer and $2,400 for married couples were only available to single people earning less than $75,000 or couples with incomes below $150,000.
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ProPublica found 270 taxpayers who collectively disclosed $5.7 billion in income, according to their previous tax return, but who were able to deploy deductions at such a massive scale that they qualified for stimulus checks. All listed negative net incomes on tax returns.
Wages rarely made up a significant portion of income for the 270 wealthy stimulus check recipients identified by ProPublica. In total, only $82 million, or 1.4%, of the $5.7 billion in income taken in by the group came in the form of wages.
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The rich have so many tax advantages: Most people earn the overwhelming majority of their income via wages and take deductions where they can, however, the wealthiest taxpayers often have great flexibility in when and how they take taxable income, allowing them to pay a minuscule portion of their wealth growth in taxes.
Among the billionaires to receive checks was philanthropist George Soros. “He did not request the funds or take any other action to obtain them. He promptly returned the check,” a representative said in an email via CBS.
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Most people pay taxes on earned income, such as their salaries or earnings from gig work, which is reported to the IRS on W2 or 1099 statements. The rich, however, have a host of accounting tricks and deductions they can use to reduce their reported income, such as by using business losses to offset income.
These valuable deductions can effectively minimize their tax liabilities — and, apparently, help them qualify for stimulus checks.
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