I heard from my cousin that the investigation reports that in several years, Trump reported losing more money than any other individual American.
Well the dude did manage to bankrupt a friggin casino.
It would appear that the tax code could use an overhauling.
Some details can surprise:
I suppose that when they fired the undocumented workers, there were increased costs. But this seems to merit legal attention.
I think what he always feared was not that he would be portrayed as a tax evader. It’s more that it would be revealed that he’s a terrible businessman - that he didn’t pay tax because he was always losing money. He doesn’t care if he’s portrayed as a cheat, ego is all that matters.
Non-paywall link.
The Democrat’s attack on these tax returns should NOT be that he’s a tax evader. Accept the returns at face value. For 18 years, he’s hemorrhaged money in his failing, flailing business “empire.” For all his supposed business savvy and deal making he couldn’t turn a profit. He’s not a tax cheat – he’s a loser. They should use that exact word every time they talk about this. Loser. All the better if they can work in a chuckle when talking about it.
Personally and politically, I think being tagged as a loser will be more damaging to him than being considered a tax fraud. If the message that he is a failure as a businessman sticks, he will come apart at the seams. And (some) supporters who put him in office because “we need a successful businessman to fix what’s wrong” will quietly slink away from him.
Very much this!
I presume this topic may come up at the debates. If so Biden just has to say: Look what a failure Donald J. Trump actually is as a businessman! What, it is fake news? Okay, provide your actual returns and I will apologize if I was misinformed. No, your own administration says you can share your returns even if you are under audit. Put up or shut up – as an experienced businessman you know the truth is in the details. Show us the details of what kind of businessman you really are. It is time to put your cards on the table, you are being called Mr. President. Followed by mic drop.
He’s obviously not a billionaire and does not have fuck you money. And has been pointed out upthread is extremely vulnerable to any bad actor or government that could bail him out.
I hate to break it to you folks, but it’s definitely possible to have negative taxable income for a long period of time in a way that builds wealth. All such legitimate ways will result in either you eventually realizing those gains and paying tax on them, or more likely having them pass to your heirs with the only tax ever paid on the gains being estate tax. The latter tends to be the general strategy for very high net worth people with lots of investments, especially in depreciable property that doesn’t actually economically depreciate (ie, real estate), and as such I suspect it is with the Trumps, or at least will be claimed. This was basically one day’s introduction to the lecture in my second class on tax law: how to massively overleverage your real estate holdings, not pay any tax, but still walk away with a bunch of spending money. It requires personally guaranteeing the loans, as Trump did.
What should be demanded is personal financial statements showing where all these unrealized assets or deferred tax liabilities are hiding if he’s so good at deferring his taxes. I’m not in the least bit surprised by this story and know exactly how it will be spun - but someone in his position personally guaranteeing loans almost certainly has personal financial statements that the banks are relying on when they accept that guarantee.
For things like investments or various other means of generating wealth, sure, I could believe that. But how could Trump possibly not be paying big taxes on his $400,000 presidential salary? That, if nothing else, would surely force him to pay the same hefty local income taxes that any other Washington D.C. resident, living in Washington D.C., would have to fork over for that sort of salary, be they an executive at Northrop Grumman or a surgeon at some hospital.
(Edit: I plugged in an income tax calculator and it said a DC resident should be paying around $31,000 on a $400k presidential salary income, although that was single filing, not married. Nevertheless, far more than $750.)
Have $400,000 in depreciation in excess of income on his investment properties combined. As long as you “materially participate” in the business, you can deduct its losses against your other income.
But also recall that he actually donated it to charity.
Glowacks, there’s not a significant American fortune ever built on the concept of perpetually going broke.
Trump is so poor he can no longer afford to own the libs.
IIRC presidential salary is tax free.
You’re right, there’s not a significant fortune there. But there is the ability to look rich and live it up while just barely making enough money to be able to support it at the end of the day, most of which is made because the properties appreciate in value. Generally, renting real estate is a loss from a tax perspective due to being able to take depreciation. You get all that depreciation back in gains when you sell the property, but most of the time it isn’t sold, but a tax free (1031) exchange is used to get a more expensive property. Eventually, you die, and the heirs get the final asset without the huge deferred tax liability you’ve genreated with it. You’re able to live the high life because banks will gladly lend you up to 80% of the value of the property whenever you refinance, regardless of how long you’ve owned it. Thus you do not have to sell to take advantage of the increase in value of the property. And loans do not get taxed.
Christopher Ingraham:
'Federal taxes paid, first year in office
Ronald Reagan: $165,202
George H.W. Bush: $101,382
Bill Clinton: $62,670
George W. Bush: $250,221
Barack Obama: $1,792,414
Donald Trump: $750’
I then looked it up, and adjusted for inflation, using December of the stated year as my starting point:
Reagan (1981): $456,797
Bush (1989): $208,969
Clinton (1993): $111,721
W (2001): $368,064
Obama (2009): $2,157,364
Trump (2017): $791
While a presidential salary is taxable, the other bonus benefits are not, according to tax code.
Thanks.
Why aren’t income taxes automatically withheld from his salary on each paycheck, the way they are for most salaried employees anywhere?
I would strongly suspect that tax is, indeed, withheld from each of his paychecks, but his reported losses on other things mean that most of the taxes that were withheld would then be refunded when he filed his tax returns.