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Buffett millionaires tax to raise $47 billion: report

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) congratulates Medal of Freedom recipient and investor Warren Buffett during a ceremony to present the awards at the White House in Washington February 15, 2011. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

U.S. President Barack Obama (R) congratulates Medal of Freedom recipient and investor Warren Buffett during a ceremony to present the awards at the White House in Washington February 15, 2011.

Credit: Reuters/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON | Wed Mar 21, 2012 7:17pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A proposed 30 percent minimum tax on millionaires backed by President Barack Obama - dubbed the Buffett tax after investor Warren Buffett who supports it - would raise about $47 billion over a decade, according to a congressional report.

The Joint Committee on Taxation, a nonpartisan body that estimates tax changes for lawmakers, on Tuesday updated an earlier report forecasting that the tax would raise $31 billion over the period, citing economic modeling errors.

Either way, the revenue is far less than the $1 trillion or more that would be lost from scrapping the alternative minimum tax. The AMT also is meant to be a minimum tax on the wealthy. Democrats have said the Buffett tax could replace the AMT.

The Buffett tax proposal has little chance of passing with Republicans in charge of the House of Representatives and its prospects in the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate are murky.

Taxes are a major topic on the campaign trail ahead of Obama's re-election bid this November.

(Reporting by Kim Dixon; Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Bill Trott)
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Comments (12)
Josorr wrote:
47 billion over 10 years?? It’s a drop in the bucket. If a 30% minimum tax on millionaires will only raise an additional 47 billion over 10 years, the wealthy are already being taxed pretty heavily. That much more won’t mean much to them. They’ll stay rich and maybe some of the poor who want something for nothing will be appeased.

Mar 21, 2012 10:12am EDT  --  Report as abuse
jaham wrote:
@Josorr…I’m not sure I’d be willing to even call that a drop, unless the bucket is, say, the size of the Atlantic Ocean.

This is the problem with the Dems philosphy; they don’t understand (or refuse to speak to the realities of) the business/economic/financial realities underlying their initiatives. The truth is that taxing millionaires will not even begin to solve our fiscal problems.

We need structural reform on many levels that is much more akin to what Paul Ryan has proposed than Obama’s budget. But it seems half of the American public does not udnerstand this.

“Those dirty Republicans want to take away Medicare from the elderly”. No, they don’t. They want to fix Medicare in the face of a projected unfunded $60T liability that is forecasted to occur before I even reach retirement age; they want to fix the problems before they blossom out of control.

Dems social ideals sound nice and make for good soundbites that are easy to buy into, but they are not economically feasible. This ship is asinking and although it cannot be fixed immediately, it will take at least a decade to effect needed change, we currently DON’T HAVE A PLAN – is that what you call leadership?

…rather, misleadership in my mind.

Mar 21, 2012 11:07am EDT  --  Report as abuse
shredman wrote:
If Buffet supports this ‘Tax’, why is he spending 10s of millions fighting the taxes that he now legally owes?

Mar 21, 2012 11:31am EDT  --  Report as abuse
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