The billionaire playbook.

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The Big Story
Thu. Jul 8, 2021

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The Billionaire Playbook: How Sports Owners Use Their Teams to Avoid Millions in Taxes <[link removed]> Owners like Steve Ballmer can take the kinds of deductions on team assets — everything from media deals to player contracts — that industrialists take on factory equipment. That helps them pay lower tax rates than players and even stadium workers. by Robert Faturechi, Justin Elliott and Ellis Simani

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More From This Investigation

Eight Takeaways From ProPublica’s Investigation of How Sports Owners Use Their Teams to Avoid Taxes <[link removed]> How do billionaire team owners end up paying lower tax rates not only than their millionaire players, but even the person serving beer in the stadium? Let’s go to the highlights. by ProPublica <[link removed]>

Campaign to Rein in Mega IRA Tax Shelters Gains Steam in Congress Following ProPublica Report <[link removed]> One proposal would ban the kinds of transactions that helped Peter Thiel amass $5 billion in his Roth; another would cap how much could be saved tax-free in these retirement accounts. But two unrelated bills could undermine those efforts. by James Bandler, Patricia Callahan and Justin Elliott <[link removed]>

The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax <[link removed]> ProPublica has obtained a vast cache of IRS information showing how billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Warren Buffett pay little in income tax compared to their massive wealth — sometimes, even nothing. by Jesse Eisinger, Jeff Ernsthausen and Paul Kiel <[link removed]>

Lord of the Roths: How Tech Mogul Peter Thiel Turned a Retirement Account for the Middle Class Into a $5 Billion Tax-Free Piggy Bank <[link removed]> Roth IRAs were intended to help average working Americans save, but IRS records show Thiel and other ultrawealthy investors have used them to amass vast untaxed fortunes. by Justin Elliott, Patricia Callahan and James Bandler <[link removed]>

Why You Can’t Turn Your Roth IRA Into a Billion-Dollar Tax Shelter <[link removed]> Unless you have access to nonpublic stock of a future tech giant, it’s pretty hard to turn a humble retirement account into a tax-free piggy bank. by Nadia Sussman, Sherene Strausberg and Justin Elliott <[link removed]>

You May Be Paying a Higher Tax Rate Than a Billionaire <[link removed]> A new ProPublica analysis of a trove of IRS documents revealed that the richest 25 Americans pay a tiny fraction of their wealth in taxes. But even if you use the most conventional yardstick — income — the wealthiest still pay low rates. by Paul Kiel, Jeff Ernsthausen and Jesse Eisinger <[link removed]>

The Secret IRS Files Short Form: A Quick Guide to What We Uncovered <[link removed]> 10 important takeaways from ProPublica’s first report on a vast collection of tax records for America’s wealthiest. by ProPublica

How We Calculated the True Tax Rates of the Wealthiest <[link removed]> ProPublica started with a trove of private tax data — then analyzed those records, along with sources ranging from Forbes’ list of billionaires to publicly available information from the IRS, the Federal Reserve and more. by Jeff Ernsthausen, Paul Kiel and Jesse Eisinger

Help Us Report on the Ultrawealthy and Taxes <[link removed]> Do you have expertise in tax law, accounting or wealth management? Do you have tips to share? Here’s how to get in touch. by ProPublica <[link removed]>

Why We Are Publishing the Tax Secrets of the .001% <[link removed]> We are disclosing the tax details of the richest Americans because we believe the public interest in an informed debate outweighs privacy considerations. by Stephen Engelberg and Richard Tofel <[link removed]>

As we speak, ProPublica is working on more stories from our trove of secret IRS files. Text “IRS” to 917-746-1447 and we’ll text you when the next one drops. Standard messaging rates apply. Privacy policy here <[link removed]>.

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The Smoke Comes Every Year. Sugar Companies Say the Air Is Safe. <[link removed]>
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A Banking App Has Been Suddenly Closing Accounts, Sometimes Not Returning Customers’ Money <[link removed]>
This Company Got a $10 Million PPP Loan, Then Closed Its Plant and Moved Manufacturing Jobs to Mexico <[link removed]>

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