Russell Simmons: 'Every Single One' Of My Employees Pays More Taxes Than Me

Famed investor Warren Buffett and Def Jam co-founder Russell Simmons have at least one thing in common: They both want the U.S. government to raise their taxes.

"All my employees -- every single one -- paid more taxes than I did," Simmons told MSNBC's Martin Bashir on Thursday in a segment highlighted by Think Progress. "We need to make the rich pay their fair share."

This is the second time in as many days that Simmons, whose estimated net worth is $340 million, has called for the federal government to raise taxes on America's wealthiest citizens. By doing so, he stands alongside Warren Buffett, the third-richest man in the world, who in August similarly called for raising taxes on the rich in a New York Times Op-Ed.

Simmons also issued the request in a blog post on Wednesday.

“I believe in a nation where everyone gets a fair share of the fruits of our labor and where everyone pays a fair share for what they receive,” he wrote on his site. “I am asking the United States government to raise my taxes and not allow the Republicans to use this economic recession as an opportunity to strip the basic programs that protect our most vulnerable.”

Asked by MSNBC's Bashir whether raising taxes on the wealthy would threaten an already weak recovery, Simmons was unfazed. "I hired based on pre-tax profit, not post-tax," said Simmons, author of Super Rich: A Guide to Having it All.

He continued: "We need to organize all the working class and underserved communities to go to work to fight off this money grab... that a great number of the [rich] corporations and individuals to undermine opportunities to give opportunity and resources to the poor."

Simmons has used multiple platforms to get across his message. On Wednesday, he joined the Occupy Wall Street protests in downtown Manhattan, according to Mogulite.

And most of the country would seem to agree with the drive to raise taxes on the rich. In a recent survey, nearly three-quarters of all respondents -- and two-thirds of Republicans -- said they would support President Obama's proposal to tax millionaire households at the same rate as the middle class.

The rule was unveiled in early September as part of a larger package including other tax increases and spending cuts. If enacted, it would apply to roughly 60,000 people, according to The New York Times.

Comments

[tjones86]

10:10 AM on 10/03/2011

“I am asking the United States government to raise my taxes and not allow the Republicans to use this economic recession as an opportunity to strip the basic programs that protect our most vulnerable.” - Russell Simmons win?

[LivingSenior]

01:07 PM on 10/02/2011

The point that everyone should be taking from this article and sharing with those we care about is this: Cut the one or two hours of your day spent watching TV or however your "extra" time is allocated and start a business... It doesn't have to be profound... just set something up. Go to LegalZoom.com or call that friend of yours back who's pitching the work from home MLM get rich and have more free time opportunity and just get it done. Even if you only spend 10 hours a month attempting to "do something" and get frustrated that you're not making all the "big money" you'll now have opportunities to tap into a new set of tax advantages that will make next year different than the previous... I met this 20 year old (Nick Sarnicola) who presented me with this logic when I was fresh out of the MIlitary and have owned businesses ever since. Even when I had to buckle down and get a "real job" to make ends meet I still owned a business. Your bosses, your companies, the people cutting you monthly checks are not in business to help everyone live the "American Dream". They're walking and talking the part while planning their next vacation. While slimming operational costs knowing people can be replaced or that jobs can be outsourced within 24 hours if need be. Everyone needs to recognize this reality. Spreading knowledge, sharing, helping one another and focusing locally.

[CitizenKane16]

01:58 PM on 10/03/2011

I agree 100%. Legal Zoom works well or go to your Secretary of State website - you'll be able to register a business name there - usually for around $100.00. Figure out something you love to do and do it as a business, even if it's only in your spare time.

[Linda from Deerfield]

10:36 AM on 10/02/2011

I see from the comments that conservatives just cannot believe that everyone wants a free ride and they think that any fool who doesn't should just pay for them. Those people don't deserve this country.

[Linda from Deerfield]

10:38 AM on 10/02/2011

I mistyped: they just cannot believe that everyone doesn't want a free ride.

[YeWight]

04:11 AM on 10/02/2011

Even if you tax the rich at 90% it doesn't solve the problem of deficit. What could solve it is if Mr.Obama stopped walking in Mr.Bush's footsteps and stopped the costly war as he promised during his campaign. Instead, he's been spending more than Bush ever did:
http://costsofwar.org/article/economic-cost-summary
http://lewrockwell.com/gregory/gregory237.html (refer to fig. 2 for spending per fiscal year)

[CitizenKane16]

02:00 PM on 10/03/2011

Even if it doesn't solve the deficit problem, it is still the right thing to do. Why should Mr. Simmons be taxed at a lower rate than I am? How is that fair or "the American way"?

[cittidude2]

01:41 AM on 10/02/2011

Now thats one Def Jam!

"...Thank you, good night."

[Dahveed1]

11:24 PM on 10/01/2011

Hey, how does he know his people pay more in taxes than he does?

Why doesn't he just write a check for the amount he thinks HE should pay extra. Although his employees are really thinking "hey, hook me up with your accountant - he knows how to hide that income."

[saskatoonie]

01:16 AM on 10/02/2011

I do believe he is honestly pointing out the inequities of the tax system.

[Linda from Deerfield]

10:30 AM on 10/02/2011

Somehow, I don't believe your vision is correct that everyone wants a free ride. My father used to say that he was proud that he made enough to pay taxes. Incredibly, he was a Republican, last of his kind.

[Dahveed1]

12:00 PM on 10/02/2011

"In 2008, the top 1 percent of tax returns paid 38.0 percent of all federal individual income taxes and earned 20.0 percent of adjusted gross income..."

I'm glad you brought up the whole "not paying their fair share" discussion. I couldn't easily find these stats for 2009 or 2010, but I wouldn't call the top 1%ers (as a group) as wanting a free ride. Now that term could be used to describe the 47% of households that do not pay any federal income tax. By the way, I'm in the 47% bracket, but sure wish I could fight my way up somewhere closer to the top 10%.

Perhaps Misters Buffet and Simmons have better accountants that the rest of the top 1%, but its clear to me as a group they are paying more than the typical office staff pays.

Of course my question still stands - how does he know what his people pay? Does he require them to submit their returns to him?

[912ProjBUFFALO]

11:14 PM on 10/01/2011

I wonder how many tax attorneys Simmons hires to comb the tax laws to find the loopholes his company uses so he can rake in his 340 million annually. It is disingenuous of these hypocrites to say they pay less than the employees that work for them. If these pinheads want to pay more taxes, GO AHEAD here’s the address. Time to put up or shut up Russell

Bureau of the Public Debt,
Attn Dept G
P. O. Box 2188
Parkersburg, WV 26106-2188

[steveinohio]

11:34 AM on 10/02/2011

One person unilaterally donating makes no difference. Collectively as a tax policy, it would be a fair policy and make a sizable dent. A donation suffers from the issue of "You go first". A policy that is enforced on everyone removes that obstacle. Prisoner's dilemma. This is discussed in every version of Economics 101, possibly even the first day of class. The aggregate decisions of individuals do not always equate to what is socially optimal if there are misaligned incentives.

[Rick4646]

05:48 PM on 10/01/2011

There are more and more rich people coming out saying to tax them at least at the same percentage as others. So glad that more real Americans are coming forward and not swayed by the greed that corrupts so many others.

[GuddhaVonChuda]

06:01 PM on 10/01/2011

The 15 Trillion Dollar questions.... What income amount do you consider rich and how much of their income do they "deserve" to keep?

[Rick4646]

07:09 PM on 10/01/2011

that is subjective -- but we can easily determine by income who makes a comfortable living and who does not -=- and the tax increase for the rich would be only 4.5%; it's not like they will have to make any significant changes, if any at all.

[Dahveed1]

11:27 PM on 10/01/2011

So far I have heard 3 rich people make this call.

Taxing the rich more isn't going to solve our employment problem. I'd rather focus our efforts on rebuilding the middle class by elevating the lower class, not tearing down the upper class.

[saskatoonie]

01:17 AM on 10/02/2011

Paying more taxes is going to tear down the upper class? I think not...............

[steveinohio]

11:40 AM on 10/02/2011

Better education and better infrastructure is how you keep an economy humming and how you give people a shot to make their own success. That costs money. To the extent that we need money to do those things to fund the system, the money should come disproportionately from those for whom the system worked disproportionately.

Raising taxes on marginal income above several hundred thousand dollars from 35 to 39 percent is not "tearing down the upper class". Making sure that an income tax system that was designed to be progressive isn't so altered by loopholes as to become regressive: that is not "tearing down the upper class." Outside of the 5 people who are registered commies in this country, NOBODY wants to tear down the rich. Plenty of people would like to reform the tax code so that it better accomplishes its intended goal of funding our system of government via progressive taxation.

[breck1011]

05:35 PM on 10/01/2011

Now wait a second. Wasn't the "Alternative Minimum Tax" supposed to fix all this? What happened to that? How are these guys getting around that? We don't even need these tax the rich bills if they would just stick with the AMT laws already on the books.

[aaronrossi]

11:49 PM on 10/01/2011

since the amt was not linked with any type of inflation, it is actually unfairly affecting the middle class and will continue to creep down hurting more and more middle class families every year. the amt needs to be eliminated.

[sindfetish]

04:56 PM on 10/01/2011

Don't matter anyway, the United States of America is currently being flushed down the toilet by greed. PURE MATHEMATICS THAT NEVER LIE proves we are unrecoverable. Plan ahead: Learn Chinese.

[mooncop1]

03:19 PM on 10/01/2011

He should make a check out to the IRS for 340 million dollars if he feels so guilty.

[zstardust]

12:38 PM on 10/02/2011

Where in the article does it say he feels guilty? He says it's unfair the way lower income earners are paying more in taxes than he does. He has nothing to feel guilty about. He wants things to change to make it more even. That's a laudable request.

[EJavaM07]

02:19 PM on 10/01/2011

"The rule was unveiled in early September as part of a larger package including other tax increases and spending cuts. If enacted, it would apply to roughly 60,000 people,"

So one population, no larger than the size of one small town in the Us, is saying that their needs are more important than the other 306M people in the country?

[ChristianCooper]

02:05 PM on 10/01/2011

This guy is a joke. He is welcome to send the IRS more money if he wants. Hell, he could send me a check too, no complaints from me.

The issue is not the tax rate but the loopholes that these people use. No need to raise the rate, just close loopholes and make capital gains normal income. Thus, it is settled.

Or we could do a flat tax and include all sources of income as taxable, that way these guys pay what they are suppose to. It is probably the only way that we will be able to get there.

[HopeWFaith]

02:37 PM on 10/01/2011

Sir, this guy is NOT a joke. His exact point, if you dig any deeper than this one article, is that the loop holes need to be closed, the rate on the richest needs to return to pre-Bush rates. That's all he's saying.

How hard is it to see, when you're blinded by your narrow brain?

[saskatoonie]

01:18 AM on 10/02/2011

Although I am not religious.....AMEN!!!!!!

[zstardust]

12:41 PM on 10/02/2011

You're completely missing the point. He's one person, and while he could be generous enough to pay more by writing a check to the IRS, it doesn't change that 1% of Americans, the top earners in the country, are getting away with paying little to no taxes at all.

[ChristianCooper]

06:11 PM on 10/15/2011

So, then flat tax all sources of income, including cap gains, and then they will pay. It is the only way to get them to pay a fair share.

The politicians on both sides help get loopholes in for their big money people. Flat tax them all. If you want flat tax after xxx amount of income, no exemptions.

[Tierce]

01:10 PM on 10/01/2011

I should be obvious by now that the middle class is the supporting class. All those taxes that are not being collected have created state wide and federal deficits. It is not as simple as just that because we have a more complex system but if you look at the amount of revenue the average middle class worker pays into taxes and note that there are millions of them out of work now, you can see the void that has been created by that.

[treehugger5]

12:30 PM on 10/01/2011

I hear all these wealthy people and corporations (people) have billions of dollars but don't know what to do with it until the government tells them what to do.
How about, the government tell them to pay a general fund that can be used for large public projects like mass transit, bridges, pedestrian/bike/etc. trails, alternative energy projects and other things that one person or one corporation (person) cannot do alone. Together the American people's money can achieve much more than just one alone. We can all share the risk and the benefits. You may be succeeding in your chosen profession but I bet you are utilizing things that all of us throughout our American history have provided: transportation and energy. Aren't we the UNITED States for a reason?

[zstardust]

12:43 PM on 10/02/2011

The scenario you're describing is what collecting taxes in a true democracy does achieve. See any socialized democratic country and you'll see that the majority of taxes do go to things that help the country as a whole, not to things that benefit only the few.