Greed: Why You Pay A Higher Tax Rate Than Buffett  | Mon Oct.
15, 2007 12:34 PM GMT   The incomparable Mark Shields (any News
Hour fans out there?) quotes Mr. Warren Buffett:  In my office,
I have 18 or so people there, and I ask them to compute line 63,
which is their tax, and then add payroll taxes, and compare it
to line 43, which is their taxable income. And these people who
make anywhere from $50,000 to $750,000 a year ... and the lowest
person in the office pays a higher rate than I do. I paid 17.7
percent last year, counting payroll taxes. ... The [employees']
average was twice mine. [Private equity managers] say they fix
up companies and they get paid for doing that. On balance,
they're paying a 15 percent tax rate on that and no payroll
taxes, and somebody that fixes up the restroom is paying 15.3
percent in payroll taxes, just to start with. [The janitor who
works] for peanuts pays a higher tax rate than people who fix up
companies [for] hundreds of millions of dollars annually in
income [emphasis a