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Comment by jhamburger | Hacker News Reader

On the contrary he has called for increasing the capital gains tax precisely because he himself (and obviously others like him) pay such low effective marginal tax rates. He even took the time to calculate that he paid an effective 17% while his receptionist paid 30%, to criticize the effects of Bush-era capital gains tax cuts.

I don't know how much more clear it can be that this is not financial self-interest.

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> On the contrary he has called for increasing the capital gains tax precisely because he himself (and obviously others like him) pay such low effective marginal tax rates.

You're assuming that he's going to pay significant capital gains. He's not because he lives so cheap that he doesn't sell all that much. In other words, the capital gains rate is largely irrelevant to him.

While he lives cheap, he does like to win and increase the value of Berkshire. The capital gains tax rate does have an effect on the folks selling companies to Berkshire....

Buffet also advocates increasing the estate tax, which is a two-fer. Berkshire makes a lot of money selling insurance to help people with the estate tax. Berkshire also picks up companies because the inheritors can't pay said tax.

Meanwhile, he's arranged things so the bulk of his estate will never be taxed.

In that particular case, yes.

I don't remember him advocating corporate or estate tax increases though? Capital gains? Hardly applies to Berkshire Hathaway anyway.

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines01/0214-01.htm is some reporting on his support of estate taxes.

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