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Buffett smashes Trump out of the park with tax details

Warren Buffett's revelation may embarrass Donald Trump.

Warren Buffett's revelation may embarrass Donald Trump. Photo: AAP

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett has released his tax details to smash Donald Trump’s assertion that the billionaire had taken a “a massive deduction” that allowed him to avoid federal income taxes.

During the second presidential debate, the Republican nominee acknowledged that he used a nine-figure loss in 1995 to reduce tax obligations.

He then likened that to strategies used by wealthy Hillary Clinton supporters such as Mr Buffett to minimise tax obligations.

Bloomberg has reported that Mr Buffett revealed he had paid about $US1.85 million ($A2.43 million) in income tax in 2015 on adjusted gross income of $11.6 million ($A15.25 million), and that his returns for previous years were similar in respect to contributions, deductions and tax rates.

That is equivalent to an income tax rate of about 16 percent.

Mr Buffett said he was being audited by the Internal Revenue Service but would have “no problem” in releasing his returns.

Read Mr Buffett’s statement

buffett

Meanwhile, Mr Trump has continued to refuse to release his tax returns, citing ongoing audits by the IRS.

Bloomberg noted that Mr Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc does not pay any dividends and, for decades, that Mr Buffett has asked the board to keep his annual salary at $US100,000 ($A132,000).

While the 86-year-old is steadily giving away his Berkshire shares to philanthropy, giving away more than $2.8 billion ($A3.7 billion) in donations in 2015.

However, his tax return shows only $5.5 million ($A7.23 million) in deductions, mostly for charitable contributions and state income taxes.

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