Elon Musk Fires Back As Calls To Tax Billionaires Grow Louder, Says Paid More Taxes Than 'Anyone In History'

Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday defended himself against calls from lawmakers to tax the wealthy.

$10 Billion In Taxes

“I have paid over $10B in taxes in a single year,” Musk said, outlining that it was more than “anyone in history,” in a response to user @TheRabbitHole, who claimed that billionaires were paying more than their fair share in taxes.

Musk also added that if he were to exercise stock options, the combined federal and state taxes he’d have to pay would be close to 45% of the amount.

“I still pay California taxes for every day I spend there,” Musk said. He added that there was another “40% tax paid” on his estate in the event of Musk’s death, he said. “Overall, I will probably end up paying trillions in taxes,” Musk lamented.

California’s Wealth Tax

Musk recently took a swipe at Governor Gavin Newsom (D-CA) and California’s proposed wealth tax, which would levy a one-time payment of 5% tax on individuals with a net worth of more than $1 billion, suggesting that it’d be better to fly off to a different planet in the future amid taxes.

Critics of the proposed tax, like investors Kevin O’Leary and Chamath Palihapitiya, have expressed opposition, with the latter suggesting it could eventually apply to ordinary California residents. However, Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA) CEO Jensen Huang urged billionaire residents to stay despite high taxes.

Lawmakers Call For Equitable Taxation

Amid the buzz, lawmakers like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) said that billionaires like Musk and Jeff Bezos should be paying more than what they do into Social Security. She said that billionaires should be pushed to pay more than workers whose wages are capped for payroll-tax purposes.

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), in March, said that his proposed 5% tax on billionaires would raise trillions of dollars, which could be redirected towards the middle class by providing “$3,000 to everyone in a household making $150,000 or less,” as well as “build 7 million homes & apartments.”

Elon Musk On Property Tax

Musk, in a recent social media post, decried property taxes levied by the government on houses. “Property tax means that your house is a de facto lease from the government,” he said, responding to a post that called for the end of property taxes amid a multi-billion dollar rise in property tax collections.

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