Secret IRS documents reveal how billionaires exploit the tax code
We discuss ProPublica's report on how America's billionaires avoid paying income tax and examine the uneven economic recovery and growing income inequality.
Listen 49:29![ProPublica Undertaxed Billionaires A closeup of Elon Musk](https://whyy.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Musk-768x512.jpg)
In this Dec. 1, 2020 file photo, SpaceX owner and Tesla CEO Elon Musk arrives on the red carpet for the Axel Springer media award, in Berlin, Germany. (Hannibal Hanschke/Pool via AP, File)
A new ProPublica investigation of some of the wealthiest Americans’ federal tax documents shows how the rich pay very little income tax, sometimes none at all. The documents leaked to the investigative news organization include those of billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk and detail the ways they “exploit” the tax code. We start the hour talking with ProPublica’s JESSE EISINGER, an author on “The Secret IRS Files” report, about what they found, how the rich avoid paying their fair share, and what it reveals about inequities in our tax code. Then, we examine the uneven economic recovery and the pandemic’s impact on income inequality and the racial wealth gap. Our guest is VALERIE WILSON from the Economic Policy Institute.
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