A post published on President Joe Biden’s official Twitter account has been fact-checked and labeled “incorrect” after the White House claimed the average American billionaire pays just 3 percent in tax.
The post was captioned: “Look, I think you should be able to be a billionaire if you can earn it, but just pay your fair share. I think you ought to pay a minimum tax of 25 percent. It’s about basic fairness.”
However, it is unclear where Biden got the 3 percent figure from, and an “added context” tab was subsequently affixed to the post explaining that the tweet was “incorrect.”
Twitter Adds Context
In addition, the context post, which cites information from the tax foundation, notes that the top 1 percent’s income share rose from 20.1 percent in 2019 to 22.2 percent in 2020.Biden had previously made the comment about the 3 percent tax rate during a visit to a labor union in Lanham, Maryland, on Feb. 15, during which he called for stricter taxes on billionaires and said he had urged Congress to pass his proposal for a minimum of 25 percent tax on billionaires.
Musk Weighs In
However, that amount factored in what would happen if the United States were to tax unrealized gains on stocks. Under current law, the calculation is made by taxing income and not unrealized wealth.Again, this figure contradicts the 3 percent amount that Biden took aim at in his recent tweet.
“I paid 53 percent taxes on my Tesla stock options (40 percent federal and 13 percent state), so I must be lifting the average!” Musk wrote. “I also paid more income tax than anyone ever in the history of Earth for 2021 and will do that again in 2022.”
“I certainly agree that everyone should pay taxes and not engage in elaborate tax-avoidance schemes. Would be curious to hear how these other ‘billionaires’ are so good at avoiding taxes!” Musk added.