Trump's tax returns

[Norman Alexander]

He will try to blather his way out of it, or change the subject, or try to point out an increasingly distant slightly shiny object that looks something like Hillary or Obama.

Biden simply needs to continue to ask him to explain. And when Donny won't, lather, rinse and repeat.

 

[The Don]

As has been pointed out, the story will play out thusly:

1. It's #FakeNews
2. The reports are accurate but only suckers pay federal taxes
3. It's not illegal
4. OK, it's illegal but it's not a "real" crime
5. What about Hunter Biden ?
6. Emails, Benghazi etc, etc
7. Next crisis

It won't affect President Trump's chances of reelection and it will provide yet another incentive for him to do anything to win - so he can stop them coming after him.

 

[timhau]

I wonder how much his financial troubles will affect his campaign, which is already rumoured to have run out of money. How much money can he throw at it?

I doubt that is the direction of cash flows between Trump and his campaign.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

....

It won't affect President Trump's chances of reelection and it will provide yet another incentive for him to do anything to win - so he can stop them coming after him.

It will be interesting to see if it affects the polls in the next few weeks and if anything in the NYT report gives Biden any fuel or advantage for Tuesday's debate.

 

[timhau]

It's funny that if Trump had taken the 400 or so million dollars his dad gave him and went to an Edward Jones broker in any strip mall in America, he'd be twice as rich as he is now.

More than twice, probably. What's more, he'd be easily able to prove how rich he is. Then again, he couldn't buy $10 million worth of PepsiCo today and then claim it's worth $100 million as collateral next week.

 

[carlosy]

Yeah, but then he's calling his own voters, most of whom pay more than $750 in taxes, stupid.

So what?

He's here to teach them. To become as clever and conning as he is.

It's all about spinning, not about the ancient concept of truth.

 

[Ulf Nereng]

Fake billionaire. Perhaps a slogan on that would do something? I bet he can't prove that he's even a millionaire.

 

[Skeptic Ginger]

As for Trump not owing taxes if he's not making any money, he's the one that can't have it both ways. He can't claim to be a billionaire and somehow write off his entire income 10 years out of the last 15. And two years he paid any tax it was a pittance.

So how did he magically become a billionaire?

I suspect his assets are heavily mortgaged. But I also don't think that means he hasn't been cheating on his taxes for years.

 

[The Don]

As for Trump not owing taxes if he's not making any money, he's the one that can't have it both ways. He can't claim to be a billionaire and somehow write off his entire income 10 years out of the last 15. And two years he paid any tax it was a pittance.

So how did he magically become a billionaire?

I suspect his assets are heavily mortgaged. But I also don't think that means he hasn't been cheating on his taxes for years.

I guess you can if you carry forward an *enormous* "loss".

I buy an asset for $billions and immediately write off most, if not all, of its value. I then use that "loss" to offset my profits in later years.

At some point in the future I may dispose of that asset - at which point in time there may be a significant capital gain. Then again, if I hang on to the asset for long enough I may get enough taper relief (if such a thing exists in the US tax code) so as not to have to pay any taxes.

Also, with enough companies in enough countries, there are opportunities for all kinds of tax shenanigans. My company in a tax "efficient" jurisdiction can charge my company in the US, or me, huge fees. My US company therefore makes a loss and my foreign company pays little or no taxes. AIUI a lot of movie companies use this kind of accounting to make sure that phenomenally successful films (like the Harry Potter franchise) somehow make a paper loss.

 

[Squeegee Beckenheim]

Because if Trump had spent his entire term, all 4 years of it, 40 hours a week, shooting someone on 5th Ave every 2 minutes and 30 seconds non-stop... he still wouldn't have killed as many Americas as have died of COVID.

For clarity: this is a quote from George Takei's twitter: https://twitter.com/GeorgeTakei/status/1309834265350336514

 

[Squeegee Beckenheim]

Ivanka was paid as a consultant on projects that she was managing

Huge red flag, and very illegal, apparently. Also not something she can wriggle out of - as a member of the organisation, she is legally on the hook here.

 

[Squeegee Beckenheim]

He's paid more to pornstars in the past 10 years than he's paid in taxes.
Ponder that for a min.

I saw one report suggesting he paid Stormy Daniels 175x what he paid in taxes, although I haven't checked the maths.

 

[Stacyhs]

I liked this Tweet:
Jesse Lifson
@DoYouEvenLif
·
8h
Republicans are so quiet about his tax returns you can hear a poll drop.

 

[Squeegee Beckenheim]

I hope they are but there is no guarantee.

Remember, the NYT is a news source in competition with other newspapers, cable news, etc. It helps their bottom line to be "first" with a news story. It would be risky to sit on a story just because it might make a big impact, because someone else investigating the same story might beat you to it.

The article says that it's an overview, and that subsequent articles will be published. So presumably there aren't any extra bombshells, but deeper dives might highlight details that are significant (such as the Ivanka story above).

 

[psionl0]

So the NYT has given us the "eye opening revelation" (based on documents it hasn't disclosed) that Trump is no different to other 1 percenters. He has taken advantage of the complex tax laws to reduce his tax liability to practically nothing.

I'm shocked I tells you, SHOCKED!

 

[The Don]

I liked this Tweet:
Jesse Lifson
@DoYouEvenLif
·
8h
Republicans are so quiet about his tax returns you can hear a poll drop.

Won't make a blind bit of difference to President Trump's standing in the polls.

 

[Segnosaur]

So the NYT has given us the "eye opening revelation" (based on documents it hasn't disclosed) that Trump is no different to other 1 percenters. He has taken advantage of the complex tax laws to reduce his tax liability to practically nothing.:

Maybe not.

I am not denying that tax laws give rather generous loop holes to the wealthy. But trump isn't just taking advantage of tax laws, he is breaking those laws.



Sent from my LM-X320 using Tapatalk

 

[The Great Zaganza]

I think there is one immediate and very critical result that will come from the release of the tax returns:

no major law firm will represent him without cash up front.

 

[Stacyhs]

So the NYT has given us the "eye opening revelation" (based on documents it hasn't disclosed) that Trump is no different to other 1 percenters. He has taken advantage of the complex tax laws to reduce his tax liability to practically nothing.

I'm shocked I tells you, SHOCKED!

And there it is. The "everyone does it" excuse. I'm shocked I tells you, SHOCKED!

The documents it hasn't disclosed? You mean Trump's tax returns?

 

[The Great Zaganza]

So the NYT has given us the "eye opening revelation" (based on documents it hasn't disclosed) that Trump is no different to other 1 percenters. He has taken advantage of the complex tax laws to reduce his tax liability to practically nothing.

I'm shocked I tells you, SHOCKED!

with what you've learned so far from the released tax returns:

would you lend Trump money?