ProPublica Doesn't Get the Tax Code, So Stirs Up Non-Existent Problems

Progressive news organization ProPublica has made a great deal of hay recently by pretending that public, widely-known, and intentional elements of the tax code are secret loopholes for the rich. The game plan is always the same: take a tax deduction, find an application of the deduction used by a wealthy taxpayer, then heavily imply that it was inserted purely for the benefit of these rich individuals’ checkbooks. Now it’s gone back to the well with yet another “exposé,” this time claiming that amortization of business expenses is somehow a nefarious handout to the well-to-do.

ProPublica doubtless has been encouraged by the credulous media reaction to its previous “bombshell.” After gaining access to the tax returns of hundreds of wealthy taxpayers through an illegal leak, ProPublica exposed the fact that people — even really rich ones! —  pay taxes on income, not wealth. This is not exactly a bombshell revelation, given that our code has never taxed on-paper wealth. Nevertheless, it received a full red-carpet rollout from media outlets quick to jump on board with anything that amplified the popular misconception that the tax code is rigged in favor of the wealthy.

This time, ProPublica is targeting sports team owners — specifically, Clippers owner and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, whose tax records ProPublica acquired in the aforementioned “bombshell” report. Ballmer, ProPublica claims, paid a 12 percent tax rate in part due to amortization of assets acquired in the Clippers purchase.