Bill Gates said he “needs to pay more taxes” while discussing the recently passed tax bill Sunday evening on CNN.
WATCH:
“When you look at the united States, do you think rising inequality is one of the core issues we have to deal with?” asked host Fareed Zakaria.
“All advanced democracies have to deal with that,” Gates posed. “Consumption poverty is down, but you have about a sixth of the population living in conditions that should be very disappointing to us, and government policies need to really think through why aren’t we doing a better job for those people?”
“Do you think in that context the last tax bill made sense? Where the benefits of the bill went to people like you?” Zakaria asked.
“Your basic point is correct. It was not a Progressive tax bill. It was a regressive tax bill. People who are wealthier tend to get dramatically more benefits than the middle class than those who are poor, and so it runs counter to the general trend you would like to see where the safety net is getting stronger and those at the top are paying higher taxes,” Gates responded.
“I need to pay higher taxes. I have paid in absolute more taxes, over $10 billion, than anyone else, but the government should require the people in my position to pay significantly higher taxes.”