Former NYC Mayor Bloomberg Avoided Federal Income Tax: Report

NEW YORK CITY — Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg recently avoided paying federal income tax, despite being one of the wealthiest people in America, according to a new ProPublica report.

Secret tax records obtained by ProPublica show Bloomberg wasn't alone — the report details methods used by billionaires such as Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffet to avoid income tax.

Bloomberg, the 14th richest American according to Forbes, paid a "true tax rate" of just 1.3 percent between 2014 and 2018 as his wealth increased, ProPublica reported.

A Bloomberg spokesperson provided ProPublica with a statement arguing the former mayor pays the maximum tax rate on all local, state, federal and international taxes.

"Taken together, what Mike gives to charity and pays in taxes amounts to approximately 75% of his annual income (over 95% of which is ordinary income)," the statement reads. "In other words, he currently only keeps about 25 cents of every dollar he makes."

But, as the ProPublica report detailed, the richest Americans derive their wealth not from wages but from the value of their assets like stock and property. Those don't count as income unless billionaires sell them off.

The 25 richest Americans were worth $1.1 trillion by the end of 2018, ProPublica reported.

It would take 14.3 million "ordinary" American wage earners put together to equal that wealth, according to ProPublica.

"The personal federal tax bill for the top 25 in 2018: $1.9 billion," the report states. "The bill for the wage earners: $143 billion."

Bloomberg reported $1.9 billion in income in 2018, yet with tax cuts, donations and credit he ended up paying $70.7 million in income tax, according to ProPublica.

That's a conventional income tax rate of 3.7 percent, the report states.

The ProPublica report was based on IRS data it obtained. In a separate story — "Why We Are Publishing The Tax Secrets Of The .001%" — ProPublica editors wrote they are sharing the data selectively because "we believe the public interest in an informed debate outweighs privacy considerations."

A statement from a Bloomberg spokesperson warned of legal action against whoever leaked the information to ProPublica.

“The release of a private citizen’s tax returns should raise real privacy concerns regardless of political affiliation or views on tax policy," the statement reads. "In the United States no private citizen should fear the illegal release of their taxes. We intend to use all legal means at our disposal to determine which individual or government entity leaked these and ensure that they are held responsible.”

Read the full ProPublica report here.