His tax rate is no longer 17%, significantly higher now. Tax rate on investment income went up with healthcare "reform", also, his ordinary income is not part of the investment income, so that boosts the average more, and depending on his state of residence, he might have a state income tax bill on top of that. If he owns his properties, there is the property taxes and sales taxes as well. It's never as simple as the tax the hell out of the rich crowd would like you to believe. As a side note, Buffett financed (at a rate of 9%) the recent Burger King deal that moves the corporate headquarters to Canada--- a move that cuts BK's corporate tax rate by almost half (Going against Buffett's own "we all ought to pay more" rule he so often promotes.) Along with BNSF, Buffett's Berkshire group also owns UTLX (and UTLX's Canadian arm PROCOR) so he makes money on the tank cars oil trains use the most of --- think that might be why Buffett's close friend Obama won't sign on to
build oil pipelines?? (For those who don't know, BNSF, Buffett's railroad hauls the lions share of the oil and ethanol shipped by rail.)