If Berkshire followed the average of the S&P 500, it would have paid out about $6 billion in dividends in 2014, and Buffett’s share would have been about $1.2 billion.At a 23.8% tax rate, that would have given Buffett a tax bill of $280 million, or about 40 times the taxes he said he actually paid in 2010.

While Buffett won't distribute dividends to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders, he has no qualms about collecting them from others. Most of the companies in his investment portfolio make regular dividend payments.