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Trump’s Taxes Show Chronic Losses and Years of Income Tax Avoidance

nytimes.com

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Re: Trump’s Taxes Show Chronic Losses and Years of Income Tax Avoidance

#21

Post by jkoudys »

malwarebytess wrote: post #4

Outside of the near meaningless confirmation of Trump's status as a "fake" billionaire and how that may affect his ego, there's is an alarming piece of information here. The man owes hundreds of millions of dollars in personal loans that he may not be able to repay. They will come due during his second term. Given his lack of ethics it's worrying to me that a president could have that kind of leverage against him. Da…

This is a HUGE distinction that gets glossed over because it's hard to see the implication from a headline. A lot of his critics pointing to his "bankruptcies" had focused on businesses going bust. So, fair enough, his casinos sucked, but knowing when to declare a business insolvent is a legitimate skill and not necessarily a sign of someone who is overall bad with money.

Taking on $300M against your own name is madness. What scares me the most is we needed personal returns just to figure that out. There's no way you can go into that much debt without significant foreign or less-legitimate lenders in the mix. The man's also in his mid-70s, so everyone must expect that if he dies next week, there's something they'll be able to collect from the estate. Combine that with how closely he's kept all his kids involved in his businesses and you have a man with everything to lose.

Re: Trump’s Taxes Show Chronic Losses and Years of Income Tax Avoidance

#22

Post by denkmoon »

maskedoffender wrote: post #18

Doesn't this just prove that he's not in office to get rich but that he's willing to sacrifice for the sake of his country?

How does the forced release of Trump's tax returns demonstrate anything about his willingness to sacrifice for the USA?

Re: Trump’s Taxes Show Chronic Losses and Years of Income Tax Avoidance

#23

Post by notyourwork »

boringg wrote: post #14

I’m more concerned about how this information was sourced. Did it get leaked from the IRS or an accountant? It feels like that part of the story is the bigger deal. I love the NYT but this feels kind of like doxing and makes me very uncomfortable.

Are you uncomfortable with the method of finding the truth? I may not agree with specific methods used but if credible then the guilty are guilty.

Re: Trump’s Taxes Show Chronic Losses and Years of Income Tax Avoidance

#24

Post by wcarey »

kenhwang wrote: post #7
malwarebytess wrote: post #4

Outside of the near meaningless confirmation of Trump's status as a "fake" billionaire and how that may affect his ego, there's is an alarming piece of information here. The man owes hundreds of millions of dollars in personal loans that he may not be able to repay. They will come due during his second term. Given his lack of ethics it's worrying to me that a president could have that kind of leverage against him. Da…

That's why it has been standard practice for Presidential candidates and aspirants to release taxes and other financial disclosures before elections, and why it was such a big deal that Trump didn't.

In particular, because the President is the source of classification authority, the oversight functions that would normally be fulfilled by financial disclosures on forms like the SF-86 have traditionally been fulfilled by the electorate. The financial disclosures are part of the process of ensuring that people entrusted with national security information are "reliable, trustworthy, of good conduct and character, and loyal to the U.S." Candidates releasing their tax returns is a (less rigorous) process aimed at the same thing.

Re: Trump’s Taxes Show Chronic Losses and Years of Income Tax Avoidance

#26

Post by onetimeusename »

boringg wrote: post #14

I’m more concerned about how this information was sourced. Did it get leaked from the IRS or an accountant? It feels like that part of the story is the bigger deal. I love the NYT but this feels kind of like doxing and makes me very uncomfortable.

I think that is unclear at the moment and the NYT is not revealing it's source according to this[1]. It says they are declining to provide the tax filings to protect their sources at the bottom.

[1]: https://apnews.com/article/archive-personal-taxes-donald-tru...

Re: Trump’s Taxes Show Chronic Losses and Years of Income Tax Avoidance

#27

Post by drak0n1c »

malwarebytess wrote: post #4

Outside of the near meaningless confirmation of Trump's status as a "fake" billionaire and how that may affect his ego, there's is an alarming piece of information here. The man owes hundreds of millions of dollars in personal loans that he may not be able to repay. They will come due during his second term. Given his lack of ethics it's worrying to me that a president could have that kind of leverage against him. Da…

On the other hand, the contents also show that breathless reporting of past foreign deals and money were pure rumor.

Re: Trump’s Taxes Show Chronic Losses and Years of Income Tax Avoidance

#28

Post by microcolonel »

kache_ wrote: post #17

Reminder; tax avoidance != tax fraud.

I honestly don't understand why “tax avoidance” is meant to sound so naughty. Almost everyone avoids taxes, almost every time they might be subject to a tax; some people are just better at it.

When you fail to collect taxes from somebody who is following the law, that is a matter for your tax code, not a moral failing of the filer.

Re: Trump’s Taxes Show Chronic Losses and Years of Income Tax Avoidance

#29

Post by ComputerGuru »

boringg wrote: post #14

I’m more concerned about how this information was sourced. Did it get leaked from the IRS or an accountant? It feels like that part of the story is the bigger deal. I love the NYT but this feels kind of like doxing and makes me very uncomfortable.

> It feels like that part of the story is the bigger deal.

and I imagine people saying just that is why they avoid all mention: they don’t want that to become the story, because that’s how strategists deflect the attention from the actual headlines.

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