# Trump taxes requested **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [April 4, 2019, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037 "2019-04-04T15:13:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/81 "2019-04-05T23:54:58Z")
> [@CarnalK](#): > > Tax fraud is probably the one thing that can be most ruled out. The IRS has been auditing him for the last 20 years or something. I would have to agree. But maybe like Mueller, they can’t keep up with the crimes and every thread leads to a new investigation. I’m kidding. I think the IRS would have nailed him if there where violations. But, perhaps they have, he paid the fine/s and moved on. It would be interesting to know. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/82 "2019-04-05T23:57:48Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Has anyone not affiliated with Trump confirmed this? Michael Cohen [presumes](https://thehill.com/homenews/house/431902-cohen-casts-doubt-on-trumps-tax-audit) Trump is not under audit. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2019, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/83 "2019-04-05T23:59:23Z")
It seems to me that if a criminal prosecution resulted from a tax return, then people would be able to claim the 5th as a defense against filing a tax return. So the only legitimate use of the power to look at returns would be if they were to result in legislation. Or proposed legislation. Much as I would like to see agent orange taken down, I don’t like this way of proceeding. Let them subpoena the Mueller report. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/84 "2019-04-06T00:12:57Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Has anyone not affiliated with Trump confirmed this? Well, he has a point. Rich people get audited a lot, and one has to figure with so many auditors looking at his filings, he surely would have been caught by now. But I recall reading an article (forgot the source) that sourced some accounting professionals who believed one reason he didn’t want them public is that the media, with the help of people with financial backgrounds, would start scrutinizing his various business ventures and compare it to other records in the public sphere. Most audits are paper audits that don’t even seem like the dreaded “audit” we all hear about. But I’ve known a person or two who’s been subjected to the IRS’s version of the third degree. A couple were business colleagues, and a couple of others were personal friends and acquaintances. It ain’t fun. You and your accountant meet with their auditor or auditors. They ask questions, they ask for explanations. Better damn well have receipts and not just any receipt will do. They give you a financial rectal exam, but unless they suspect criminal tax fraud, they don’t necessary go comparing what you report to other databases. It’s not an FBI investigation – again, not unless it’s criminal. But put information out in front of millions of people, some of whom might be ambitious reporters like Woodward and Bernstein or ambitious young prosecutors, and it’s quite possible that state tax authorities might notice something. State attorneys general might notice something else. Financial crimes investigators across different divisions might notice yet something else - or some enterprising investigative reporting team simply puts damning information in bold print, which then in turn puts pressure on criminal investigators within the IRS to take a second look. Fraudulent tax returns have no statute of limitations, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/85 "2019-04-06T01:05:05Z")
> [@Aspenglow](#): > > I was thinking of [this](https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc453), which is writing off debts that are owed to you. > > You can also write off the net loss of a business, which can be construed as a debt. Doesn’t get you out of paying the debt, but you can still write it off. > > As the King of Debt told us, he loves debt. I’m confident a squiz of his tax returns will disclose why. You really don’t get it, do you? Writing off debts owed to him doesn’t mean HE is in debt. If you have a net loss, you don’t owe any taxes. What’s a squiz, by the way? ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/86 "2019-04-06T01:24:37Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I think the IRS would have nailed him if there where violations. > > But, perhaps they have, he paid the fine/s and moved on. It would be interesting to know. Probably, but the IRS in general has been doing fewer and fewer audits of rich people and large corporations, since 2011. It seems to me that by now Trump would have figured out how to conduct his corrupt practices without technically violating tax laws. His real worry is his image. That’s what he’s most concerned with, because that’s all he is: an empty public image. His whole business is predicated on that. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/87 "2019-04-06T03:40:50Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > You really don’t get it, do you? > > Writing off debts owed to him doesn’t mean HE is in debt. > > If you have a net loss, you don’t owe any taxes. What makes you think he wouldn’t try claiming bad debts that never existed? ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/88 "2019-04-06T03:58:47Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > What’s a squiz, by the way? I think that was one of Brett Kavanaugh’s drinking buddies. 😉 ---
**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:** [April 6, 2019, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/89 "2019-04-06T15:37:48Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > …I think the IRS would have nailed him if there where violations. > > But, perhaps they have, he paid the fine/s and moved on. It would be interesting to know. “Nailed him”? Thump doesn’t _get nailed_. He does the nailing. So the IRS sent him notices or whatever, and he ignored them. Or put them off. Or blew them off. What else is new? “Paid the fines”? Don’t make me laugh. He doesn’t pay fines. He doesn’t pay contractors. He doesn’t pay anyone. He just ignores stuff and walks away from it and **NO ONE COMES AFTER HIM**. This is the way he operates. ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/90 "2019-04-06T15:41:21Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > … > > What’s a squiz, by the way? It’s about halfway between a shufti and a gander. ---
**Author:** ![Anny\_Middon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Anny\_Middon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anny_Middon)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/91 "2019-04-06T15:49:48Z")
Do state tax departments have the right to obtain (perhaps through subpoena) the federal tax returns of an entity or person? Here in Illinois, I have to include a copy of my federal 1040 with my state return, but not the accompanying forms. I assume the same is true of business tax returns. Does Illinois have to accept that whatever my federal return shows is true, or can they demand to see my Schedule C (tax form for sole proprietor) or Schedule B (dividends and interest) or whatever? If they demand them from me, and I refuse to provide them, is their remedy to get a court to demand them and then charge me with contempt if I still refuse, or can they just get the IRS to provide them (perhaps through a subpoena)? I ask because as we all know, Trump can pardon federal crimes, even possibly his own. But if New York State comes after him for tax fraud… ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/92 "2019-04-06T16:16:15Z")
What’s the timeline on complying with this request? ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/93 "2019-04-06T17:05:10Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > What’s the timeline on complying with this request? The deadline set by the Ways and Means Committee is April 10th. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2019, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/94 "2019-04-06T18:22:23Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > What’s the timeline on complying with this request? > [@Aspenglow](#): > > The deadline set by the Ways and Means Committee is April 10th. Or the 12th of Never, whichever comes second. Deadline-schmehdline. Very cynical today. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/95 "2019-04-06T19:41:24Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Yeah, I saw [this post from **CalMeacham**](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=21575685&postcount=31761) this morning, just before I left for work. My quicky-check on the guy seems to have been insufficient. Here is another article you might find interesting [How the super-rich defeated the IRS’s crack Global High Wealth unit](https://boingboing.net/2019/04/06/dead-on-arrival.html). The fix is in. > [@](#): > > In 2009, the IRS created a Global High Wealth Industry Group to audit the super-wealthy, staffing it with skilled lawyers and accountants who could unravel the webs of “trusts, foundations, limited liability companies, complex partnerships and overseas operations” that were used to hide the income of the super-rich from the tax-collector. > > A decade later, the group’s track record is dismal. IRS privacy rules mean that little is known about how the group’s audits were undertaken, defeated, and then gutted, but Propublica’s Jesse Eisinger and Paul Kiel have pieced together a vivid picture from the fragmentary evidence, showing why the project was “dead on arrival.” > > \ > > It’s clear that the group was sabotaged into uselessness. **Its most prominent critic, Charles Rettig, is now Donald Trump’s IRS commissioner.** Original [ProPublica](https://www.propublica.org/article/ultrawealthy-taxes-irs-internal-revenue-service-global-high-wealth-audits) article. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/96 "2019-04-06T21:27:36Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > This is my opinion, and not speaking for Richard Neal, but I think Congress ought to ask some questions if a particular individual has been under IRS audit for their entire lives, as Trump makes it out to be. We shouldn’t stand for taxpayer harassment, so if his tax returns seem normal, Congress should tell the IRS to stop wasting its time with law-abiding Presidents. Sarcasm, right? Hilarious, thank you 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2019, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/97 "2019-04-06T21:47:28Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > Are you sure about that? A company can write-off expenses, not debt in general. > > IOW, please provide a cite. Don’t know in the USA, but in Europe a very common deductible expense is interest paid on debt. It is easy to infer the amount of debt from the rate of interest. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2019, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/98 "2019-04-07T01:53:57Z")
> [@Pardel-Lux](#): > > Don’t know in the USA, but in Europe a very common deductible expense is interest paid on debt. It is easy to infer the amount of debt from the rate of interest. Debt is just another form of financing. It doesn’t make someone a bad businessman, let alone a bad person. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2019, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/99 "2019-04-07T02:09:34Z")
Again, it depends on whom the debt is owed to, and under what terms. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2019, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037/100 "2019-04-07T02:30:10Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Again, it depends on whom the debt is owed to, and under what terms. For example, Jared Kushner. Who’s paying the bill on that 666 5th Avenue property and what do they get in return? US top secret intel on dissidents in their own country? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trump-taxes-requested/832037.md?page=6)