A deep dive into IRS records obtained by the investigative, non-profit media outlet ProPublica found that the very wealthiest Americans pay far less in terms of tax rates than the average American — or even no contributions at all. Jeff Ernsthausen, senior data reporter at ProPublica, told Cheddar that the wealth of multibillionaires comes from the growth of assets and that if they don’t sell their shares, they essentially avoid paying taxes even as their net worth increases. Ernsthausen explained that the report is important for lawmakers who might be considering alternatives to the current tax code. "Basically there's two systems: one for folks who are taking wages and one for folks who are holding wealth," he said.