He has gone on record lamenting his low tax rate of approximately 17%.  And yet, the company he largely controls, Berkshire Hathaway, has been in a heated dispute with the IRS over about a billion dollars in corporate taxes that the IRS says B-H owes.

Buffett could easily step to the plate if he wanted to by merely signing a personal check to cover the difference, or by paying up and making B-H a less attractive investment option to his buddies on Wall Street.  Instead he has spent millions of dollars in litigation trying to fight the IRS tax bill.

So, all protestations aside, he has not stepped to the plate.  He has instead yowled about the disparity in tax rates without fulfilling his yearning desire to pay his fair share.  Why do you suppose that is?  Why is his company, a highly profitable company at that, dragging its feet on paying a $1 billion tax bill?  

The answer is pretty simple really.  Buffett knows his firm is only an attractive investment option for current and potential stock holders if its return on investment remains highly attractive. If his firm begins to look like a middle of the road investment vehicle to Wall Street schmoozers, investors will move their money elsewhere. Taking the leap all by himself isn't prudent even though he really, really, really wants to do it!