Berkshire Hathaway Inc. Chairman Warren Buffett said the company has paid the U.S. government more than $101 billion in taxes since he took the helm 60 years ago, more than any other firm in history, according to his annual letter to investors on Saturday. 

Buffett’s comments come as President Donald Trump has vowed to cut corporate taxes further after slashing them to 21% during his first term in 2017. Trump wants to reduce the corporate tax rate to 15%.

Berkshire paid $26.8 billion in taxes in 2024 alone. Buffett said that “record-shattering” figure amounts to roughly 5% of the total taxes paid by U.S. companies last year, and excludes state taxes and taxes paid to foreign governments.

“If Berkshire had sent the Treasury a $1 million check every 20 minutes throughout all of 2024 — visualize 366 days and nights because 2024 was a leap year — we still would have owed the federal government a significant sum at yearend,” Buffett wrote. 

Berkshire’s 2024 tax bill exceeded that of the previous five years combined, owing in part to his significant sales last year of two of its biggest holdings, Apple Inc. and Bank of America Corp., according to Edward Jones analyst Jim Shanahan.

“He’s boasting about taxes, but it’s kind of an unusual year,” Shanahan said. “I don’t know if he was specifically trying to call out large tech companies that don’t pay much in terms of cash taxes, but certainly if I’m reading between the lines, that’s what I’m seeing.”

Cathy Seifert, an analyst at CFRA, interpreted the comments in a similar way.

“I think the underlying message is: ‘Don’t lump every multibillion-dollar corporation as even; some pay their fair share of taxes’,” Seifert said in an interview. 

Berkshire reported on Saturday that its operating profits for the fourth quarter surged 71%, driven by a nearly 50% jump in insurance investment income and improvement in its insurance underwriting business. Its annual operating earnings rose to $47.4 billion, up nearly 27% from the previous year. 

Vast conglomerate

In the annual letter, Buffett said that when he took control of the Berkshire Hathaway company in 1965, it was a struggling textile operation that paid zero in income taxes that year, and hadn’t for much of the previous decade.

“That sort of economic behavior may be understandable for glamorous startups, but it’s a blinking yellow light when it happens at a venerable pillar of American industry,” Buffett wrote. “Berkshire was headed for the ash can.”

Today, Berkshire Hathaway is a vast conglomerate spanning more than 189 operating companies, a public equity portfolio worth $272 billion and a cash pile worth $334 billion as of the end of 2024, according to the annual report. Buffett said the company’s success is due in large part to America’s capitalist economy, a system that he said has its faults — “in certain respects more egregious now than ever” — but also “can work wonders unmatched” by other models. 

Buffett also credited Berkshire’s investors for foregoing dividends to reinvest their income, noting that the company only paid investors one dividend, in 1967. He said he couldn’t recall why he suggested the move to Berkshire’s board, a decision he said “seems like a bad dream.”

Buffett addressed part of the letter to “Uncle Sam.”

“Someday your nieces and nephews at Berkshire hope to send you even larger payments than we did in 2024,” he wrote. “Spend it wisely. Take care of the many who, for no fault of their own, get the short straws in life. They deserve better.”

Seifert called the comments “a subtle yet important swipe” at the current political environment.

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The pricing of accounting services is a big concern and it should be. My definition of pricing services properly is that if, at the end of the year, you’ve made your living, funded your retirement account, and had money left over to maintain and build your infrastructure, you’re pricing your services OK. If you have something left over after that, then good for you, you are doing it right and you should enjoy that profit. But the minimum is the first three things.

I get frequent calls about this. My advice is to increase fees at a uniform percentage to make up for the shortfall going forward. Here is how to go about this.

The first step is to calculate the shortfall. By way of illustration assume you are grossing $250,000 and have a $30,000 shortfall. $30.000 ÷ $250,000 = 12%. This means your fees need to be increased 12% in total. This assumes these are your numbers for the current year. If these are last year’s numbers, then project your shortfall for the current year and use that. 

The second step is to increase the fees for every client immediately by 12%. If you have contracts, you might not be able to do this, but if you have an arrangement that doesn’t lock you into a price no matter what, then increase those clients, which should be most of your clients. If the contractual fees are substantial, then factor that in and you might need a larger percentage increase than the across-the-board calculation.

The third step is to start contacting your larger or more important clients. Start with them but plan on contacting every client. I personally call everyone. They all pay your salary, so make the call. If they were a new client, you would do somersaults to get them. Here, all you need to do is call them. I suggest telling them something similar to this:

“I regret that I have to increase my fees with you. My overall fees are too low and I am not making what I need to provide my living, fund my retirement account and have sufficient funds to maintain my practice with needed maintenance, technology changes and technical update notifications. Accordingly, as much as I hate to do this, I am forced to increase the fees for all of my clients 12% effective the first of next month. This is not something I like to do, but I have to do it so I can continue the level of services my clients are accustomed to and deserve. This is the only way that makes sense. I know you will understand, and if you want to think about it and have another discussion, please call me. I appreciate you being a client and know we will continue our successful collaboration.”

I used an illustrative amount, but this method works for any size practice, from a solo to a large multioffice practice. The reality is that if there is a shortfall, this needs to be done. 

Alternatives like getting more business is a way to grow your practice, but at your present level with the shortfall from your established clients and existing workload, the issue isn’t growth but maintaining the status quo. Being immersed in tax season means now is not a good time, but neither is any other time. Delaying this inevitable action will just make the situation worse. You are a businessperson and need to act like one and your revenues need to reflect this.

Do not hesitate to contact me at [email protected] with your practice management questions or about engagements you might not be able to perform. 

Deloitte China has selected its first female chief executive officer from its local talent pool in mainland China, according to people familiar with the matter. 

Dora Liu will become Deloitte China’s new CEO on June 1 for a four-year term, according to an internal email in January seen by Bloomberg News. She will take over responsibilities from Patrick Tsang, who will complete his second term on May 31, Its unclear what Tsang will do next. 

Deloitte China didn’t respond to a request for comment. 

Mainland-born Liu joined Deloitte in April 1993 in Shanghai, the city where she is still currently based. She has worked with financial institutions including banks, securities, funds and insurance firms, according to Deloitte’s website.