Berkshire reaps US$29b windfall from new tax law

New York

BERKSHIRE Hathaway, the holding company of US billionaire investor Warren Buffett, received a stunning US$29 billion last year from the US government, thanks to a new tax law that massively lowered corporate tax rates.

In his much-anticipated annual letter to shareholders, Mr Buffett explained that the company's net gain of US$65.3 billion in 2017 was only partly due to his employees' efforts. "Only US$36 billion came from Berkshire's operations," he wrote. "The remaining US$29 billion was delivered to us in December when Congress rewrote the US tax code."