What is ProPublica tax?

ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. ProPublica has obtained a vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people, covering more than 15 years.

How is ProPublica funded?

As a nonprofit, ProPublica’s work is powered primarily through donations. The vast bulk of the money we spend goes directly into world-class, award-winning journalism.

Why do wealthy people take loans?

When rich people borrow, they do so because they want to improve their overall financial situation, and they can do that by leveraging the money lenders provide. You can do the same. For example, a wealthy person might take out a loan to buy an investment property that produces consistent income and goes up in price.

How do wealthy people borrow against assets?

Wealthy people can use their stock portfolios to tap cheap loans and avoid the capital-gains tax. A stock-market rally and low interest rates turbocharged borrowing among America’s wealthy. Cash offers on real estate is a popular use of this strategy.

How did ProPublica make Pulitzer history?

In 2017, ProPublica and the New York Daily News were awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service for a series of reports on the use of eviction rules by the New York City Police Department.

How much did these 25 billionaires pay in federal taxes?

According to Forbes, those 25 people saw their worth rise a collective $401 billion from 2014 to 2018. They paid a total of $13.6 billion in federal income taxes in those five years, the IRS data shows. That’s a staggering sum, but it amounts to a true tax rate of only 3.4\%.

How did ProPublica get the IRS tax data?

The tax data was provided to ProPublica after we published a series of articles scrutinizing the IRS. The articles exposed how years of budget cuts have hobbled the agency’s ability to enforce the law and how the largest corporations and the rich have benefited from the IRS’ weakness.

Do billionaires have to evade taxes?

Certainly, there are illegal tax evaders among them, but it turns out billionaires don’t have to evade taxes exotically and illicitly — they can avoid them routinely and legally. Most Americans have to work to live. When they do, they get paid — and they get taxed.

Does ProPublica’s tax report influence lawmakers?

ProPublica argues that its report serves the public interest in understanding how the wealthy game the U.S. tax system and could influence lawmakers’ efforts to change it. The publication says that it does not know the identity of its source and did not solicit the information. It says it has vetted the information independently.