WASHINGTON (AP) - Warren Buffett has called himself mega-rich, but now he's revealing how much money he made last year: $62,855,038.
The billionaire investor disclosed the figure in a letter he wrote this week to Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., that was obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press. Buffett and Huelskamp have been sparring over Buffett's call for higher taxes on the wealthy.
In a New York Times opinion piece this summer, Buffett had revealed that he paid $6,938,744 in federal taxes last year, or 17.4 percent of his taxable income.
Buffett has said that tax rate is too low compared to middle-income wage earners, especially as President Barack Obama and Congress struggle to control the mushrooming federal debt. Obama has used Buffett as an emblem in the president's fight to clamp higher taxes on the wealthy, a drive that Republicans oppose.
Buffett's letter to Huelskamp specified that his adjusted gross income - which excludes some types of income and expenses - was $62,855,038.
His taxable income - which subtracts exemptions and itemized deductions - was $39,814,784, he wrote. Such deductions can include donations to charity, business travel, and state and local taxes.
Messages left late Wednesday for officials at Buffett's company, Berkshire Hathaway, were not immediately returned.