Alex Bruno
Elon Musk, the billionaire CEO of Tesla, is defending himself once again against public criticism. It is time for Tesla CEO Elon Musk to answer to questions regarding his income tax bill.
“If you opened your eyes for two seconds, you would know that I will pay more taxes than any American in history this year.” Musk tweeted earlier this week.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted a reaction to Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s criticism of him as Time Magazine’s Person of the Year for not paying his taxes.
Let us fix the broken tax law so the ‘Person of the Year’ does not freeload off everyone else,’ Warren tweeted.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted to Warren, “Stop projecting,” while referring to a Fox News article labelling Warren a “fake.” “You remind me of my friend’s furious mother, who used to shout at everyone for no apparent reason when we were kids. Senator Karen, please refrain from using the manager’s name.”
The Environmental and Energy Study Institute estimates direct subsidies to the fossil fuel industry in the US amount to $20bn per year.
The US government takes money from the person who heads the electric car company and spends it on fossil fuel support.🤦@elonmusk @SenWarren pic.twitter.com/goe24HWA3E
— Dima Zeniuk (@DimaZeniuk) December 15, 2021
There are a variety of tax breaks for the fossil fuel sector in the US to encourage domestic energy production. Both direct subsidies to companies and additional tax breaks for the fossil fuel sector are included in this. US subsidies to the fossil fuel sector are conservatively estimated at $20 billion a year, with 20% going to coal and 80% going to natural gas and crude oil, according to the EESI.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has been called a freeloader by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and other lawmakers who have raised the issue of his taxes recently. He claims that he pays around 53% of his income in taxes and that if he had sold all of his shares in Tesla, he would have been the single largest taxpayer in the United States by 2021. The CEO has subsequently responded to the senator on Twitter with a series of critical tweets.
Don’t spend it all at once … oh wait you did already
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 14, 2021
According to Musk, who spoke at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit, handing over the function of capital allocation to a government agency with a poor track record is a waste of time and resources.
On the other hand, the government has immunity against recalls since it has a monopoly on violence. Online opponents have reacted strongly to the CEO’s words, pointing out that he is only trying to avoid paying his due amount of taxes.
Tesla’s detractors like to point out that the Obama government provided the company with a $465 million loan, which was repaid nine years early. However, this sum is a pittance compared to the subsidies granted to the fossil fuel sector as a whole.
In 2020, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that the fossil fuel sector would get $5.9 trillion in subsidies for the production and use of coal, oil, and gas, or $11 million each minute. Musk is paying billions in taxes this year, so it is not out of the question that the government may use some of that money to prop up fossil fuels.
