Trump's tax returns leaked

I wonder what Biden bombshell will get released tomorrow in an attempt to take the focus off this. He's been in govt for 180 years so there has to be some verifiable bad stuff that the press can't ignore, right?
 
This is something I was never concerned about. Had there been something illegal in it, we would have known about it long ago.

I'm sure the Democrats will try and spin it into something else.
 
A lot of people don't understand how business people in certain types of corporations pay taxes. In some corporations, the company pays the taxes,. In others, they owners pay the taxes.

Also, Trump owns somewhere around 500 companies. Some same profits, some do not. And this is often by design. When some companies lose money, others in the conglomerate that make profits can use the losers as a tax offset.

Your typical blue collar often does not understand this, so when they hear XYZ Company didn't pay taxes, that doesn't mean the owners didn't pay them.
 
Maybe he should turn this into a positive and propose a massive tax overhaul to simplify the system in his 2nd term. The FairTax would be a good start.
 
Maybe he should turn this into a positive and propose a massive tax overhaul to simplify the system in his 2nd term. The FairTax would be a good start.
I'm not sure how many Republicans would even support that. Takes too much power away from them.
 
Maybe he should turn this into a positive and propose a massive tax overhaul to simplify the system in his 2nd term. The FairTax would be a good start.
Off the internet, I can't provide a specific article:

Over 2 decades Trump paid $95M in Federal income taxes, but a 2009 Obama-Biden tax break for the rich allowed him to amend his return & get $72.9M of it back? And this is supposed to hurt Trump? Despite the NY Times framing of the illegal leak, this is a nothingburger. This will hurt Biden more than Trump.
 
Found it!



Russia. The Times found no evidence of any links to Russia that were previously unreported. The tax returns, it says, do not “reveal any previously unreported connections to Russia.” All they show is that the 201 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow was “was the most profitable Miss Universe during Mr. Trump’s time as co-owner, and that it generated a personal payday of $2.3 million.” That’s all there is to the vast Russian business interests Democrats hinted (and hoped) the returns would show.

Michael Cohen. Prosecutors in New York have subpoenaed the tax returns for a criminal investigation — most likely, having to do with payments via Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen (now a convicted felon), to alleged lovers (including Stormy Daniels). The Times noted: “The materials obtained by The Times did not include any itemized payments to Mr. Cohen.” It added: “The amount, however, could have been improperly included in legal fees written off as a business expense.” That’s it.

The Audit. Democrats and journalists have mocked Trump’s long-standing claim that he could not release his tax returns because he faced an Internal Revenue Service audit. The Times confirmed the audit: “Also hanging over him is a decade-long audit battle with the Internal Revenue Service over the legitimacy of a $72.9 million tax refund that he claimed, and received, after declaring huge losses. An adverse ruling could cost him more than $100 million.” It is real, just as Trump has claimed.
 
I do have to admit that I thought the 'still under audit' argument was total BS. Granted, that wouldn't have prevented him from releasing his tax returns though.
 
The Times is spinning that as Trump not paying taxes, and the idiot left is buying it.
So the fact is, if you know the laws, tax tables, and rules, you can structure dealings to help defer or eliminate taxation. One reason I think Trump was able to get businesses going in the USA the 3 years prior to Covid.

Case in point, the Times article speaks of a mansion on a chunk of land that he wanted to develop. NIMBYs prevented that, so he signed a deal with a land conservancy, agreeing not to develop most of the property. In exchange, he claimed a $21.1 million charitable tax deduction:


Perhaps Mr. Trump’s most generous interpretation of the business expense write-off is his treatment of the Seven Springs estate in Westchester County, N.Y.

Seven Springs is a throwback to another era. The main house, built in 1919 by Eugene I. Meyer Jr., the onetime head of the Federal Reserve who bought The Washington Post in 1933, sits on more than 200 acres of lush, almost untouched land just an hour’s drive north of New York City.

“The mansion is 50,000 square feet, has three pools, carriage houses, and is surrounded by nature preserves,” according to The Trump Organization website.

Mr. Trump had big plans when he bought the property in 1996 — a golf course, a clubhouse and 15 private homes. But residents of surrounding towns thwarted his ambitions, arguing that development would draw too much traffic and risk polluting the drinking water.

Mr. Trump instead found a way to reap tax benefits from the estate. He took advantage of what is known as a conservation easement. In 2015, he signed a deal with a land conservancy, agreeing not to develop most of the property. In exchange, he claimed a $21.1 million charitable tax deduction.

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Mr. Trump classified the Seven Springs estate as an investment property, not a personal residence, allowing for certain tax savings. Meanwhile, Eric Trump has called it a “home base,” and the Trump Organization website describes it as a “retreat for the Trump family.” Tony Cenicola/The New York Times
The tax records reveal another way Seven Springs has generated substantial tax savings. In 2014, Mr. Trump classified the estate as an investment property, as distinct from a personal residence. Since then, he has written off $2.2 million in property taxes as a business expense — even as his 2017 tax law allowed individuals to write off only $10,000 in property taxes a year.

Courts have held that to treat residences as businesses for tax purposes, owners must show that they have “an actual and honest objective of making a profit,” typically by making substantial efforts to rent the property and eventually generating income.

Whether or not Seven Springs fits those criteria, the Trumps have described the property somewhat differently.

In 2014, Eric Trump told Forbes that “this is really our compound.” Growing up, he and his brother Donald Jr. spent many summers there, riding all-terrain vehicles and fishing on a nearby lake. At one point, the brothers took up residence in a carriage house on the property. “It was home base for us for a long, long time,” Eric told Forbes.

And the Trump Organization website still describes Seven Springs as a “retreat for the Trump family.”

Mr. Garten, the Trump Organization lawyer, did not respond to a question about the Seven Springs write-off.

The Seven Springs conservation-easement deduction is one of four that Mr. Trump has claimed over the years. While his use of these deductions is widely known, his tax records show that they represent the lion’s share of his charitable giving — about $119.3 million of roughly $130 million in personal and corporate charitable contributions reported to the I.R.S.


 
Assuming no illegal action is discovered and that ALL taxes legally owed were paid I expect my President to use every legal maneuver available when necessary, regardless of whether it's personally for him or collectively for our country. Current tax laws include numerous loopholes which usually benefit those with capital, a prudent person takes full advantage of legal loopholes. There is no maximum tax you can pay, only a minimum, you're free to pay as much as you'd like above your minimum due.
 
Assuming no illegal action is discovered and that ALL taxes legally owed were paid I expect my President to use every legal maneuver available when necessary, regardless of whether it's personally for him or collectively for our country. Current tax laws include numerous loopholes which usually benefit those with capital, a prudent person takes full advantage of legal loopholes. There is no maximum tax you can pay, only a minimum, you're free to pay as much as you'd like above your minimum due.
Yeah, but that's not the point. The Democrats are using another powerful emotion, envy this time, to turn people against Trump. The typical Democrat sheeple doesn't care if it's legal or not, all they see is rich man not paying taxes while they are struggling.
 
Yeah, but that's not the point. The Democrats are using another powerful emotion, envy this time, to turn people against Trump. The typical Democrat sheeple doesn't care if it's legal or not, all they see is rich man not paying taxes while they are struggling.
Oh, I agree. I'd like to know how many Dems pay more than required.
 
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