Biden criticizes American billionaires who pay no taxes

US President Joe Biden on Sept. 16 criticized American billionaires and large corporations, which in some cases pay practically no taxes on their income.

Biden was delivering a speech at the White House on his plans to establish a fair tax and economic burden for the American middle class, Report informs referring to the White House website.

“Your taxes get deducted from your paycheck, and you pay what is owed beyond that. That’s why about 99 percent of working people pay the taxes they owe. But that’s not how it works for people with tens of millions of dollars. They play by a different set of rules. And they’re often not employees themselves, so the IRS can’t see what they make and can’t tell if they’re cheating. That’s how many of the top 1 percent get away with paying virtually nothing,” he said.

“It’s estimated by serious economists that that number is about $160 billion collectively owed each year that doesn’t get paid. It’s not an even playing field. My plan would help solve that. For example, it would give the IRS the resources it needs to keep up with the lawyers and accountants in the super - of the super-wealthy,” he noted.

“It would ask just for two pieces of information from the banks of these folks: that amounts - the amounts that come into their bank accounts and what amounts go out of their bank accounts so that the wealthy can no longer hide what they’re making and they can finally begin to pay their fair share of what they owe. That isn’t about raising their taxes. It’s about the super-wealthy finally beginning to pay what they owe - what the existing tax code calls for - just like hardworking Americans do all over this country every Tax Day,” Biden added.

“Look - and like I said just a few minutes ago, 55 of the most profitable corporations in America paid zero in federal income taxes on what amounted to $40 billion in profit. Not a penny. That’s not right. And my economic plan will change that. Not punish anybody, just make them pay their fair share. I’m not out to punish anyone. I’m a capitalist. If you can make a million or a billion dollars, that’s great. God bless you. All I’m asking is you pay your fair share. Pay your fair share just like middle-class folks do. But that isn’t happening now,” he said.