Misleading: Biden Tax Evasion
The Claim
Joe Biden evaded paying taxes.
News posted on
Emerging story
Recently, the New York Times released Trump’s tax returns. Relative to his earnings, he paid almost no taxes, claiming millions in losses. In response, many of Trump’s defenders argued that Biden’s criticisms are hypocritical, as he himself exploited tax loopholes.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar’s investigation found that what Biden did was create an “S corporation.” S-corporations passes the corporation’s income, losses, and tax credits unto its shareholders. This allows Biden to pay a different kind of tax that is slightly lower than an individual’s income tax. According to his 2017 tax returns, these savings amounted to a 3 percent difference. He saved about $380,000 on his payroll taxes.
Despite this, he still paid $3.7 million in taxes – roughly a third of his total annual income. In fact, the S-corporation may not have had a major effect on his overall tax payout. In 2017, he did not claim a 199a deduction, which gives s-corporations a smaller tax rate. He may have even paid a higher tax rate, due to recent reforms. What Biden did is perfectly legal. Many others do it too, including Newt Gingrich. If corporate tax rates are unfair, that is a problem with how the US government taxes corporations.
