Trump's Taxes

[Jazzy]

What do you think about Donald Trump paying $750 in taxes in 2016-2017, paying $0 in taxes in 2020, and reported a $55 million profit loss during his term in office? Why?

 

[Lamb]

Did he break any laws? That's the big question to be asked.

If his accountants used the system that's in place and didn't break any laws, then we are electing the wrong people who set up the laws in the first place.

 

[tango]

People often get hot under the collar when they see someone has reduced their tax bill. I'm not aware of anything in the law that says I have to pay more tax than I owe, or that I have to structure my affairs to increase my tax bill.

I wonder how many people would decline the chance to cut their tax bill substantially and without breaking any laws. Most of the time people whining about perfectly lawful tax avoidance are little more than jealous. As Lamb said, go after the people who make the rules rather than the people who obey them.

Of course many people want to gripe about people and companies not paying "their fair share" (whatever that means) but still gladly take advantage of the lower prices because it benefits them. You get to do lots of posturing as you rail against the Nasty Rich Ones but don't have to actually put any real skin in the game because, well, Prime is so convenient.

If Trump is guilty of tax evasion by all means throw the book at him. If he is not there's nothing to see here.

 

[Albion]

Already it's beginning to look as though having the tax returns made public was the main objective of Trump's enemies, not what's revealed by them.

Most people don't follow the news with real care but instead take what the commentator says about whatever it is. Already in this case, I have heard several talking heads "reporting" that what the tax returns show is ________ (fill in that blank with various "off the cuff" observations).

For example, one said, with great seriousness, that Trump's returns showed him to be a bad businessman, not the business wizard he was thought to be. The evidence? Apparently, he was in the plus column for two of the years in question while he was devoting his time to being president of the United States, but in the red for the other three. However, the purpose for demanding his returns be made public was supposed to be to reveal criminal actions on his part.

And then there is the matter of him promising not to take his salary, or because the Treasury is required by law to send it, of him promising to send it back. While I could find no liberal source that said anything other than that he didn't follow through (Time, WashPost, CNN, etc.), other sources reported that government records from the various government agencies document that he did make those contributions (back to the government, in other words). See the following report for more:

FACT CHECK: Did Trump Donate His Presidential Salary To Rebuild Military Cemeteries?

'$400,000'

checkyourfact.com

 

[Lamb]

People often get hot under the collar when they see someone has reduced their tax bill. I'm not aware of anything in the law that says I have to pay more tax than I owe, or that I have to structure my affairs to increase my tax bill.

I wonder how many people would decline the chance to cut their tax bill substantially and without breaking any laws. Most of the time people whining about perfectly lawful tax avoidance are little more than jealous. As Lamb said, go after the people who make the rules rather than the people who obey them.

Of course many people want to gripe about people and companies not paying "their fair share" (whatever that means) but still gladly take advantage of the lower prices because it benefits them. You get to do lots of posturing as you rail against the Nasty Rich Ones but don't have to actually put any real skin in the game because, well, Prime is so convenient.

If Trump is guilty of tax evasion by all means throw the book at him. If he is not there's nothing to see here.

Well, if he committed a crime, you'd bet we'd be hearing it this morning. I haven't heard any charges being made against him so I'm guessing his accountants were following the law?

So who writes those laws? The politicians who also like those little loopholes and don't pay a lot of taxes. When will we see THEIR finance records?

 

[Albion]

Deleted/duplicate post

 

[Josiah]

What do you think about Donald Trump paying $750 in taxes in 2016-2017, paying $0 in taxes in 2020, and reported a $55 million profit loss during his term in office? Why?

What disturbed me even more is that in all the years of taxes publicized, Trump did not give ONE CENT to charity. Not a penny. Not to a church, not to anything. In one year, he claims he made nearly $60,000,000.00 but gave NOTHING, not one cent, not one penny. Here is a man who is self-centered to the extreme, who cares nothing for charity.

While I agree with Trump on some issues, my respect for him as a man continues to fall lower and lower....



.

 

[tango]

What disturbed me even more is that in all the years of taxes publicized, Trump did not give ONE CENT to charity. Not a penny. Not to a church, not to anything. In one year, he claims he made nearly $60,000,000.00 but gave NOTHING, not one cent, not one penny. Here is a man who is self-centered to the extreme, who cares nothing for charity.

While I agree with Trump on some issues, my respect for him as a man continues to fall lower and lower....



.

Does that mean he didn't give any money, or didn't claim any tax writeoff for giving money, or gave through corporations? (Serious question, I don't know the answer and frankly don't care enough to look through the tax returns to find out)

I'd have thought if he did make any meaningful contributions he would have claimed the tax writeoff but that isn't necessarily the case.

When I ran a small business I routed all my charitable giving through the business because it was more tax-efficient - essentially I could choose between the charity getting more at the same actual cost to me, or the charity getting the same benefit at less actual cost to me. (ETA: This means that what I gave in my personal capacity was a big fat zero for several years, so if you looked through my bank account for evidence of giving you'd have found nothing at all)

 

[Albion]

What disturbed me even more is that in all the years of taxes publicized, Trump did not give ONE CENT to charity. Not a penny. Not to a church, not to anything. In one year, he claims he made nearly $60,000,000.00 but gave NOTHING, not one cent, not one penny.

Or....he didn't take the deduction when filing his PERSONAL tax return???

The Donald J. Trump Foundation has given millions to 100 or more charities. I suspect (without checking it out) that this is the pattern followed by other well-known corporate millionaires and billionaires who also function through foundations that they have set up.

 

[tango]

Or....he didn't take the deduction when filing his tax return???

Ha, beat you to that one

 

[Lamb]

Or....he didn't take the deduction when filing his PERSONAL tax return???

The Donald J. Trump Foundation has given millions to 100 or more charities. I suspect (without checking it out) that this is the pattern followed by other well-known corporate millionaires and billionaires who also function through foundations that they have set up.

This is probably what happened. He can't double dip.