Buffett calls on super rich to pay more in taxes

US billionaire investor Warren Buffett has called on the ''mega-rich'' to pay more in taxes.

In a New York Times opinion piece yesterday, Buffett said he would raise rates on households with taxable income over $1 million right away and would add an additional increase for those making $10 million and above.

He has also recommended that the 12 members of Congress tasked with devising a deficit-cutting plan leave rates for 99.7 per cent of taxpayers unchanged.

''My friends and I have been coddled long enough by a billionaire-friendly Congress,'' Buffett wrote. ''It's time for our government to get serious about shared sacrifice.''

Buffett, chairman and chief executive of Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway, for several years advocated higher taxes on the super wealthy and said the tax system had contributed to the growing gap between rich and poor.

President Obama referred to the billion investor's op-ed to drive a point he was making at a town hall meeting in Cannon Falls, Minnesota, about a plan to address the nation's mounting deficit. The reference to Buffet's line about not coddling billionaires was greeted with laughter and applause.