NYT: Trump paid no income taxes in 10 of past 15 years

He didn’t divest anything. He remains the beneficial owner of everything he owned before he was elected.

 

Indeed. From the editor's note in NYT:

"Some will raise questions about publishing the president’s personal tax information. But the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that the First Amendment allows the press to publish newsworthy information that was legally obtained by reporters even when those in power fight to keep it hidden. That powerful principle of the First Amendment applies here."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/27/us/trump-taxes-editors-note.html
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Veering very far off topic, which is about when I take a thread off my watch list.

Medical costs need addressing by insurance companies and policies. If you have a deductible and any costs over your out of pocket costs are paid, then you have a set maximum health care cost per year. Flat tax shouldn't be impacted, whether health policy is screwed up or properly functioning.

Why should businesses pay tax? Businesses are not human beings. Human beings should pay taxes.

 

Glad to hear the fabulous Trump economy is working for you!

But yeah, maybe a tax planner to help you reduce tax liability....

 

I'll correct that to divested his control.

If you have a business and in one year build a new branch and the cost of that in that year exceeds your income but two years later it is profitable and you are now making double what you were making would you consider that not successful?

The problem with all this hysteria about Trump's taxes is that they are HUGELY complicate and what we have here is a cherry picked article without the details. I would have little doubt that is what the NYT is plotting with this scheme of theirs to try and force him to release all his tax returns.

Has the IRS charged him with any tax violations? None that I know of so I could care less what he paid in taxes as long as it was all legally done. Why should anyone else? He said in the debates with Clinton that yes there were years when the loses superseded income and no doubt lots of that was carryover loses.

And let's not forget it is the Democrats and Biden that want to give him back LOTS of tax deductions.

 

I understand that. If Trump claimed to "make" $240 million, but spent more than that, then he is a crappy businessman. But to be the billionaire he claims to be, you dont loose money on every deal. We can debate the details until the cows come home, and it wont make a bit of difference. But at the end of the day, are you claiming that a man who paid $70,000 for haircuts, was loosing money the whole time ? I dont buy that, and from your posts you seem to be pretty honest and straightforward, I dont think you believe it either.

Taxes suck, and I think you and I are a lot closer to agreeing than you think. Taxes are legalized thievery, but I do understand that they do have a purpose for a greater good. But a person who makes $240 million dollar deals and only pays $750 for a whole years worth of taxes....something stinks there.

 

Proving Trump IS smarter than you then when it comes to taxes. And BTW Biden wants to you to pay even MORE taxes on those capital gains do you support that?

 

Trump must think he is a Canadian.

 

I don't think accountants can change capital gains taxes on Vanguard 1099 forms. That's where I have all my taxable investments. My disadvantage is that I have bonds in taxable, which is needed for my asset allocation. No accountant can get around that problem.

 

Trump complained Obama 'only pays 20.5% on $790K'

 

Trump's taxes probably eat up cases of reams of paper every year. Neither you nor I are going to comb through every page, and unless either of us is a CPA and/or tax attorney, we wouldn't understand all the detail if we did read them.

NYT talks about 2 or 3 pages of returns that their "anonymous source" turned over. Do you think the authors of the article are experts at taxes, especially without seeing all the paperwork and talking to Trump's tax team?

No one on this thread can really agree or disagree what the truth is about Trump's taxes. It's all just more partisan jibber jabber, which is why the thread is going off in the direction of general money and taxation.

 

Bit of a problem with how you frame it. if it is legal how can it be theft?
So yes, amused.
No doubt the roads you travel along make you (in your terms) an accessory after the fact!

 

When was trumps? We have no idea where this came from. Diversion noted.

 

Next excuse: it is too complex for us mere mortals to understand. 3D chess. LOL!

 

A poor person cannot hold you up at gunpoint and take your money, but the government can take it out of your paycheck and decide he needs your money more than you need your money. How is that not theft?

Legal and moral are not the same thing.

 

a lawyer can’t either. lawyers don’t do accounting and follow the law.

maybe a fin advisor, so you could reinvest that and not realize the cap gains.

 

I agree. But it is pointing out the disparity in taxation between the rich and the poor. But at the end of the day, there is a reason Trump is hiding his taxes, and it probably isn't a good one

Thanks for the civil debate

 

Corporations pay income taxes. They are called income taxes. Fine, personal. Can you point out any illegalities in the returns?

 

How about not providing fodder for a Swamp fishing expedition, from the same crowd that launched Shampeachment and a Deep State coup attempt? This would be exactly like the Russia hoax, an investigation in search of a crime.

 

The problem is that neither Trump nor the Trump Organization did anything illegal. If you don't like the results of the tax returns then you need to help change the tax laws. I don't pay taxes that are not due either. I assume you don't as well.

 

One of Trumps accountants here, folks... Seems "very simple business math" includes leaving out $4,000...

Was that part of your fee?

 

TBD... But we certainly won't find out from the NYT, but rather the forensic accountants under Cy Vance..

 

Have you ever inspected the tax returns of a billionaire who owns dozens of businesses? I haven't, but I expect that I wouldn't understand them without the advice and consultation of a couple of CPA'a and tax attorneys....and I ain't no dummy. So, yes, I would argue that Trump's tax returns are too complex for us "mere mortals" to understand.

What we do know is that NYT journalists will try to simplify and distill every published article down to "Orange man bad," because that's what millions of people want to read. They are simply feeding their masses and bringing in advertising revenue. Good for NYT's profits.

 

Tax bombshell reveals Trump's image is a sham (Duh?)

(CNN) It was the moment when Donald Trump's "Art of the Deal" fabulism, billionaire tycoon bluster and populist standard-bearing for forgotten Americans was revealed to be what it always looked like: a sham.

A stunning New York Times exposé of the President's tax returns Sunday revealed a pitifully inept businessman and a serial tax avoider crushed by massive debts that could expose him to conflicts of interest given his position as President and power to help undisclosed lenders.

Trump refused to talk about his tax returns and blasted the Times report as "totally fake news" on Sunday. But the article portrays the anti-elite crusader who rails against a corrupt system as actually using its loopholes to avoid paying any federal taxes at all in 10 of 15 years beginning in 2000 by writing off his own staggering losses.

In 2016 and 2017 each, Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes -- far less than many Americans who are working hard amid a deep recession to stay afloat. Trump took huge deductions -- including $70,000 to take care of his hair -- and also appeared to write off hundreds of thousands of dollars paying his daughter Ivanka as a consultant to the Trump Organization, according to the Times report. The story also reveals the extent to which Trump's status as President is being used to shore up his losing ventures — for example his hotel in Washington, DC, and his golf resorts.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/28/polit...ate/index.html

 

So... everyone is pissed that Trump utilized the existing tax code? Is that where we are at? You know what would solve this issue???

A FLAT TAX!! See how democrats love that as they too also embrace the current tax code.