Tax Tip for Warren Buffett, and Wouldn't His 2010 Taxable Income Be only $100k To Pay 17.4% Rate?

Just a thought: If Warren Buffett is really serious about paying higher taxes, couldn't he simply take the standard deduction voluntarily ($11,400 for married taxpayers filing jointly in 2010) instead of itemizing his deductions?  That wouldn't require any change in tax policy, so he doesn't have to wait.  

After all, it must be all of his itemized deductions (e.g. charitable, etc.)  that reduce Buffett's income tax rate to only 17.4% on about $40 million income last year.  Except for about the first 1% of his income ($373,650) that would be taxed at lower rates, he should be paying a marginal tax rate of 35% on the other 99%.  Using the tax brackets below for 2010, how could Buffett claim that he paid an effective tax rate of only 17.4% unless his taxable income was only about $100,000?



Married Filing Jointly 2010 Tax Brackets











Taxable Income	Marginal Tax Rates
$0-$16,750	10%
$16,751-$68,000	15%
$68,001-$137,300	25%
$137,301-$209,250	28%
$209,251-$373,650	33%
$373,651+	35%

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Tax Tip for Warren Buffett, and Wouldn't His 2010 Taxable Income Be only $100k To Pay 17.4% Rate?

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