# Donald Trump, tax avoider **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 27, 2020, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696 "2020-09-27T21:49:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 12
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/221 "2020-09-29T14:06:23Z")
Ok, so Google and Facebook are the absolutely unbiased arbitrers of truth, aren’t they? ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/222 "2020-09-29T14:07:43Z")
If the way you get out of paying taxes is by running huge losses, then of course that is evidence that you are in fact a horrible businessman. If however you use existing tax laws to get out of paying taxes, without breaking any laws, you are a good businessman in that you minimize losses for you and your investors. Here, the real culprit is the way the tax laws are written in favor of the rich. I know that if there were a legal way that I could get out of paying some taxes, that I don’t currently know about, I’d do it. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/223 "2020-09-29T14:08:37Z")
Yes, more than MBA’s that put gypsy curses on people. Try the pumpkin pie. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/224 "2020-09-29T14:09:58Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > Exactly, and in a way not available to most people. The person cleaning your house cannot use that option, the millionaire receiving money for future political favors, can. > You’re changing the case from “tax evasion” to “not vey clear moves” to “he sucks”. As usual, the “I want my guy to have an excuse to continue being an asshole rather than become the better man” routine. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/225 "2020-09-29T14:11:39Z")
Compared to a website founded by a political consultant? Yeah. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/226 "2020-09-29T14:35:48Z")
A directors loan is money put into the company for a purpose and later withdrawn. This is money coming from a third party into the front door of the company and out the back door without touching anything in the house. Money laundering. ---
**Author:** ![Kearsen1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Kearsen1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kearsen1)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/227 "2020-09-29T14:40:46Z")
I don’t know what this says personally about Donald Trump(but probably not a good business man), but it for sure fucking highlights big problems with the tax codes. I would be trying to use them to my advantage as well. The people who come up with, write, and approve these tax codes are the ones taking advantage of them. Duh. When other people take advantage of them its tax evasion … I don’t know why it’s confusing some of you that people actually want to try and keep as much money as they make as they can. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/228 "2020-09-29T14:42:46Z")
> [@Saintly\_Loser](#): > > > [@BlankSlate](#): > > > > When that’s fully investigated, will anyone be surprised if Don jr. and Eric were double-dipping as well? > > Maybe they weren’t. And maybe they’ll be really pissed off that Dad was sending so much money Ivanka’s way, and not a penny to them. > > And so they’ll turn on him… > > Well, we can dream, can’t we? I suspect that he’s not actually giving the money to Ivanka to do with as she pleases. It’s just a paper transfer. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/229 "2020-09-29T14:44:50Z")
That’s…almost the opposite of money laundering. 🤦🏻‍♂️(Money dirtying?). Money laundering is **not** income without obvious source or use. It is using legitimate sources to account for income or profits which otherwise have been earned illegally. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/230 "2020-09-29T14:45:23Z")
Almost certainly is. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/231 "2020-09-29T14:47:38Z")
> [@Fiddle\_Peghead](#): > > Here, the real culprit is the way the tax laws are written in favor of the rich. I dunno, I’ve never heard this claim before. My understanding is that the wealthy pay far more than their fair share of taxes and it’s the poor who get to be freeloaders, and the _right_ thing to do is reduce the burden on our job creators. Are you saying this isn’t true? ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/232 "2020-09-29T14:50:53Z")
Let me retract that. What I mean to say in the context of this thread is that Trump paid low taxes because the tax laws allowed it. As for what is right or wrong, that’s another discussion. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/233 "2020-09-29T14:53:32Z")
Depends on what you mean by “taxes”. Most people have only a few types of taxes to which they are liable. Such as income, sales, property tax etc. The wealthy get caught with many more types. Estate, capital gains, payroll etc. (No comment on whether the current tax code is fair). ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/234 "2020-09-29T14:55:18Z")
So what. In the USA S corps are completely legal and not shady in the least. Most privately owned small businesses are S-corps and it makes especially good sense for consultants with few or no employees. My corporation is an S Corp. You pay plenty of tax on the money you earn, it’s just that you pay it on your personal tax return. That one’s almost as ridiculous as slamming Adam Schaffer’s for owning shares in a popular Mutual Fund that had investments in Ukraine. I checked my mutual fund portfolio and I owned more of that Franklin Templeton fund than he did. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/235 "2020-09-29T14:58:49Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Also, he gave zero to charity. Can you provide a citation for this? I would love to say I donate more to charity than Donald Trump! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/236 "2020-09-29T15:03:05Z")
> [@Ann\_Hedonia](#): > > So what. The “so what” response does not penetrate the thinking of posters like @Aji_de_Gallina. Sigh. 🙄 Actually, I have observed that nothing much does penetrate. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/237 "2020-09-29T15:03:36Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Also, he gave zero to charity. Hypothetically, he _might_ have given to charity and not claimed the deduction. I sometimes do that. The last time I dropped of crap at Goodwill I didn’t even ask for a receipt. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/238 "2020-09-29T15:03:52Z")
Maybe. Apparently the legitimacy of the 100 million dollar deduction is being disputed by the IRS. If it’s within the law he is entitled to it but anyone claiming that kind of deduction should expect to be singled out for extra scrutiny - the kind of scrutiny you’d get if you told your insurer you had a Picasso in the trunk of your 86’ Pinto. But it does look like his consultancy agreements with his children were probably illegal. Another reminder. The New York Times has his tax returns. All anyone else has is their reporting on his tax returns. Maybe they reported all the good stuff at once. Maybe they saved something for later. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_S](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/46a35a/32.png) [@Max\_S](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_S)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/239 "2020-09-29T15:05:24Z")
The closest I could find was this from the _New York Times_ story: > “_While his use of [conservation-easement] 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._” Conservation-easement is where you get a tax break for promising not to develop certain land. ~Max ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2020, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696/240 "2020-09-29T15:05:41Z")
Adam **Schiff**. I like the concept of autocorrect but the execution sucks. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696.md?page=11) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/donald-trump-tax-avoider/921696.md?page=13)