Daniel Radcliffe: Rich Should Subsidize Poorer People Working 'Just As Hard'
Daniel Radcliffe has already defeated Voldemort. Now he's moving on to the tax rates of one percenters like himself.
The actor, best known for his starring role as Harry Potter and worth an estimated $47,448,000, said he's dropping his support for the U.K.'s Liberal Democratic party in large part because of their stance on taxes, according to an interview with Attitude Magazine slated to be published this week, cited by the Guardian.
"I think, if you make a lot more money than most people -- like I do -- you should pay more tax and subsidise people who work just as hard as you, but don't earn as much," Radcliffe said.
Radcliffe joins some of his super-wealthy counterparts in the U.S. who are advocating for a tax boost on the wealthy, an issue that has become central to the presidential campaign. Warren Buffett first highlighted the issue in an August op-ed in The New York Times, where he argued that the super-rich should be taxed at a rate that is at least the same or higher as that of the middle class.
Buffett's proposal inspired President Obama to create the "Buffett Rule" and touted it as part of his American Jobs Act, as well as during his State of the Union address last month. Meanwhile, Republican front runner Mitt Romney fueled the debate over taxing the wealthy, when he revealed his 2010 tax returns after mounting pressure from opponents. Though Romney and his wife make hundreds of millions combined, they paid a tax rate that is the same as that of many middle class households.
Many prominent super-rich Americans are taking up Buffett's cause and arguing that tax breaks for the wealthy are unfair. Comedian Chris Rock said in an interview earlier this month that he'd be willing to pay higher taxes, while billionaire Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said late last year that he's "generally in favor of the idea that the rich should pay somewhat more" in taxes than everyone else.
Other notable people to support higher taxes for the rich include former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan and the American people themselves. More than half of Americans say capital gains -- or profits from investments and property -- should be taxed at the same rate as work, according to a recent CBS/NYT poll. The wealthy typically benefit most from capital gains.
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First Posted: 02/ 6/2012 12:49 pm Updated: 02/ 6/2012 2:04 pm