Trump tax returns megathread

[Santander]

https://twitter.com/SherOnHealth/status/1310353067406233603

Here is another interesting segment in the NYT ...

His daughter appears to have received some of these consulting fees, despite having been a top Trump Organization executive.

The Times investigation discovered a striking match: Mr. Trump’s private records show that his company once paid $747,622 in fees to an unnamed consultant for hotel projects in Hawaii and Vancouver, British Columbia. Ivanka Trump’s public disclosure forms — which she filed when joining the White House staff in 2017 — show that she had received an identical amount through a consulting company she co-owned.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/27/us/trump-taxes-takeaways.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage

Sounds like tax fraud to me.

If he'd paid her that money as a salaried employee, she'd owe payroll taxes on it and have to pay income taxes on it all that year. Pay it to her LLC and it's business income that she can probably zero out through her own tax chicanery.

And, if you saw the post on the prior page with a Tweet (I re-posted it, above), you will see that it seems that the trump company involved, may have made a double tax deduction for "Ivanka's services."
Once in her standard salary as an executive for said trump co., and then again as an "outside consultant."
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

Not necessarily. I'd be surprised if her stated salary was so low that she and TrumpCo didn't pay the maximum payroll taxes involved. It would only be rotten if they deducted the same money twice or if there's some non-tax shenanigans going on.

Yeah, I doubt they did it in such a brazenly illegal way when they could easily use legal tax planning methods.

[Alcibiades]

I’ve long thought that Dems should focus on Trump’s corruption, grifting and ripping off the American people, more so than his subversion of democracy or any other outrageous scandal, to win elections. This provides the perfect opportunity, and they have to hammer home the message throughout the country, and particularly in blue-collar America, that Trump pays less tax than you, because he’s a selfish, lazy SOB who thinks he’s better than you.

[Landslide Lyndon]

I’ve long thought that Dems should focus on Trump’s corruption, grifting and ripping off the American people, more so than his subversion of democracy or any other outrageous scandal, to win elections. This provides the perfect opportunity, and they have to hammer home the message throughout the country, and particularly in blue-collar America, that Trump pays less tax than you, because he’s a selfish, lazy SOB who thinks he’s better than you.

Deplorables don't care about that as long as their Cheeto Jesus hates the same people they hate.

[Alcibiades]

I’ve long thought that Dems should focus on Trump’s corruption, grifting and ripping off the American people, more so than his subversion of democracy or any other outrageous scandal, to win elections. This provides the perfect opportunity, and they have to hammer home the message throughout the country, and particularly in blue-collar America, that Trump pays less tax than you, because he’s a selfish, lazy SOB who thinks he’s better than you.

Deplorables don't care about that as long as their Cheeto Jesus hates the same people they hate.

I’m not talking about the cultists, but the small yet significant number of swing WWC voters, especially in the Rust Belt.

[Wrong about 2024 Ghost]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/703598661419167744

[Badger]

Not surprising. Instead of making this about Trump's taxes directly it should be about:

1. He's a failed businessman. Look at how much he lost.
2. Highlight some of the flaws of our tax system.

This. Most Republicans, and more than a few independent voters, we'll take this as proof that he's just a good businessman by playing the rules as they are written, which isn't his fault. Of course, the issue is that as president he'll do nothing to close such loopholes as everyone knows Trump is all about fattening his own wallet and any tax reform will cost him personally

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/gelliottmorris/status/1310561094046543872

[Trump Is A Maoist]

Today I learned that I've been paying more taxes than Donald Trump year after year after year.

[Sir Mohamed]

https://twitter.com/gelliottmorris/status/1310561094046543872

I agree with the lesson, but the presidency or public service is not there to make money. Sure, public officials should receive a decent compensation, but usually you're not into this for getting rich. Being prez can never compete with major positions in the private sector and it neither should.

Problem with Trump is that he uses his office to make money, violating conflicts of interests. Congress should definitely look into improved laws and better enforcement to avoid conflicts of interests and other ethical issues. The issue with the current set of rules is that it largely depends on the decency of the office's occupant.

[The Dowager Mod]

https://twitter.com/JasonKander/status/1310352996736348165

[emailking]

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1310587468731879431
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1310587471231582208

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/bradleyrsimpson/status/1310414620146970626

[Donald Trump’s Toupée]

He doesn’t take a presidential salary - he donates it. So clearly he’s not using the presidency to enrich himself.

[Sir Mohamed]

"Illegally obtained information"? So he admits the content is correct?

[GeorgiaModerate]

https://twitter.com/bradleyrsimpson/status/1310539604878127105

[Donald Trump’s Toupée]

NYT is just a political hit job. Look at the timing - the left pulls this sh**t all the damn time.

[Sir Mohamed]

NYT is just a political hit job. Look at the timing - the left pulls this sh**t all the damn time.

Yup, everything you don't like or doesn't support your worldview is a hitjob. It's even this report was a secret: Mr. Trump bragged about not paying his taxes ("that makes me smart") and takes it with pride to cheat upon John Smith struggling to put food on the table. Not to mention how this proves he's anything but a successful business mogul, which we already knew by looking at his bankruptcies. Sure, some people will just never admit he's a fraud because he taps into their anxiety and feeds the "We vs. Them" narrative. It's like he takes 99% of the cake and then tells you the evil Mexican is taking the other 1% of the cake from you. The sad part is only too many people eating it up because they only consume Fox "News", Breitbart and alike.

[indietraveler]

Not surprising. Instead of making this about Trump's taxes directly it should be about:

1. He's a failed businessman. Look at how much he lost.
2. Highlight some of the flaws of our tax system.

This. Most Republicans, and more than a few independent voters, we'll take this as proof that he's just a good businessman biplane the rules as they are written, which isn't his fault. Of course, the issue is that as president he'll do nothing to close such loopholes as everyone knows Trump is all about fattening his own wallet and any tax reform will cost him personally

Agreed. As messed up as it is this is honestly one thing I can't blame him on if he was within the law. He technically didn't do anything wrong.

[Doomer]

NYT is just a political hit job. Look at the timing - the left pulls this sh**t all the damn time.

Trump could abort a fetus on live TV and then eat it and you’d start talking about how healthy it is to eat a human fetus.

I swear, I’ve never seen such blind religious devotion to one man. Trump supporters put Trump above literally everything else. He’s like meth to them, they’d sell out their grandmothers just to keep him in office indefinitely.

[Badger]

https://twitter.com/JohnJHarwood/status/1310332089200508928

Well?? For Christ's sake tell us more!! This is the real heart of the issue. Not only was Trump in fact a s***** businessman with a P T Barnum level of skill at self-promotion, but he has graft onto every bit of conflict of interest and outright bribery he could as president in order to shore up his crumbling Empire. More details please!

[Badger]

i mean this is old news by now he can just say he went around the tax laws that could of been changed by obama/biden admin but they did nothing

Even if it's technically legal for him to pay so little tax, it doesn't make it right. He has an obligation to support the rest of society, that helped make him so successful in life. He doesn't care about other people, he just sees ordinary working people as chumps who should have to pay more instead or get less from their government.  

What about the other billionaires like Jeff Bezos and others? They pay their employees like crap while they are racking in millions in gains weekly. They use the government to their benefit - the rich are benefited by the government tax laws which need to change and nobody in the past has tried to change it. this isn't trump's problems its a problem that needs to be fixed. Do i think this helps Biden? Probably not

Golly gee whiz , why on Earth are we assuming the president has anything to do with tax legislation!?!

The point is, if you want these tax loopholes changed, as the vast overwhelming majority of Americans, including most Republicans, dearly do, you want to get rid of a president who is the living embodiment of greed and Prophets big time to the tune of tens if not hundreds of Millions from these loopholes. The same loopholes he promised his own supporters he get rid of, and you suckers actually believed him.

Oh, and by comparison purpose look to see how much each of the other major Democratic presidential candidates comparably paid in taxes compared to trumps $750. You can either be a complete imbecile and assume it's because Donald Trump is so so smart, or in fact he is just shady as f***.

[GP270watch]

He doesn’t take a presidential salary - he donates it. So clearly he’s not using the presidency to enrich himself.

 What kind of low information voter nonsense is this, lol.

 He's used the Presidency to enrich himself in numerous ways. Properties of his that were "struggling"(according to Donald Trump's own tax returns) are now being rented at capacity by governments, lobbyist, and corporations wanting to curry favor or influence with Trump. His children and son-in-law have also received the same benefits in their businesses.

[Badger]

These revelations would have completely doomed any previous President's re-election bid. Why do we give Trump a free pass?

Because he's a beast.

Because his supporters are literal cultists.

[GP270watch]

These revelations would have completely doomed any previous President's re-election bid. Why do we give Trump a free pass?

Because he's a beast.

Because his supporters are literal cultists.

 It doesn't even make sense. The fakenews media time-traveled into the past and brainwashed Trump to not pay taxes for the majority of two decades so that they could embarrass him in a future Presidential re-election bid. This is why they're failing, time travel is very expensive.

[Badger]

Not seeing any traction with this amongst my Twitter or Facebook friends tbh.
...

Front page and main article on Fox News website.

And this is why Trump's 45% cult hardly moves. Fox News spins this emphasizing if not entirely leaning on Trump's denials as the story, rather than the clear writing on the wall that Trump is a tax cheat and crappy near broke businessman. Between Fox, Fox Business, their respective websites, and the Facebook content they turn, even most soft Trump supporters who would be outraged by this will never hear anything remotely close to the full story due to the media bubble most live in.

This of course can be said about essentially every single issue and major development. I swear I predicted it 1986 and we'll say it again, that getting rid of the fairness Doctrine was one of the greatest creators of divisiveness and ignorance in this country during the last 35 years.