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On Sunday, the New York Times published a report on “Donald Trump’s tax information extending over more than two decades.” New York Times
The right dismisses the story, arguing that there is no evidence of illegality or connections to Russia.
“There is no smoking gun. Despite clearly exhaustive efforts, the Times investigative team has failed to uncover any illegality or clear wrongdoing. In fact, the subtext of the story is a mounting frustration at the skill of Trump’s accountants in alleviating their man’s fiscal burden. The reporters seem particularly pained to note that a law passed under President Barack Obama enabled Trump to recoup more historic losses than he could otherwise have done…
“The paper is reduced to mocking Trump where they think it hurts him most — by pointing out that he’s not as rich or as ‘smart’ as he says he is. Most of his business empire runs at a loss — ha ha! That line of attack gives satisfaction to media people who now hate Trump for a living. But do voters really care?”
Freddie Gray, Spectator USA
“This is a typical tax-avoidance strategy for the wealthy — to show business losses against income while expanding wealth and assets in other ways. It’s perfectly legal, as long as it’s done legally, of course. The audit is in part looking at that question, but nearly a decade later, the IRS has not brought any charges against Trump, nor does the NYT specify any concrete violations…
“Perhaps this might be enough for class-warrior attacks on Trump over the next few weeks, but Democrats had been making that argument since 2015 anyway. When they accused Mitt Romney of being a ‘vulture capitalist’ at Bain, Romney responded by attempting to defend himself as a nice guy. Trump has taken the opposite strategy, to better effect: he paints himself as a ruthless yet legal businessman who takes advantage of every corner-cutting measure Congress has created. And since he’s up against someone whose family members have gotten wealthy by trading off his name while in public office for nearly 50 years, that’s not going to be the dunk Democrats might believe it to be.”
Ed Morrissey, Hot Air
“There's nothing in Trump's tax information that would frighten a tax accountant — just take a quick look at the New York Times's own accounts. They save up losses ($500 million in 2006! $70 million in 2008!) which they then put against future profits — as every company and business has the right to do, and every reasonable, sensible, tax system allows. They take depreciation on buildings, $8 million a quarter on their new one apparently. They pay consultants, as consultants tend not to do the work if they think they won't be paid…
“[Furthermore] Trump can't be both making no money and also illegally dodging taxes. That just can't happen — if you're not making money, then you don't owe taxes, that should be simple enough to understand. Or, the other way around: You cannot be illegally dodging taxes that aren't owed. So, people complaining need to make a decision about what it is they're going to complain about.”
Tim Worstall, Washington Examiner
“I suspect a lot of people believe rich people should pay ‘a lot’ in taxes every year, whether or not they actually made much money that year. But if you think about it, that approach doesn’t make much sense. The U.S. government taxes income and investment profits. A man who starts a year with $10 million and who loses $5 million over the course of the year doesn’t have money coming in. Because a financial loss in a particularly bad year can often exceed the taxes owed, taxpayers are often allowed to carry their loss forward into future years — and apply the deduction for their losses against future tax bills. That’s what Trump has done, apparently, over and over and over again…
“One other important sentence in the Times article: ‘Nor do the [tax returns] reveal any previously unreported connections to Russia.’… [Lastly] Whoever leaked Trump’s tax returns without his consent almost certainly violated the law, despite the Times’ assertion that “all of the information The Times obtained was provided by sources with legal access to it.” The sources may have had legal access to these records, but that’s not the same as legal authority to release it to the press or public. It is a violation of federal law to release someone’s tax return.”
Jim Geraghty, National Review
The left is disturbed by the story, arguing that Trump may have underpaid and that his outstanding debt raises concerns.
The left is disturbed by the story, arguing that Trump may have underpaid and that his outstanding debt raises concerns.
“Trump reportedly decreased his income in a number of ways that seem more indicative of a cheat than a failure. For instance, he appears to have paid his daughter Ivanka Trump nearly $750,000 in unexplained ‘consulting fees.’ A large payment to a family member is inherently suspicious, and a prosecutor investigating tax fraud would try to establish what, if anything, Ivanka’s company did for the money. If the Trumps don’t have a good answer, and receipts, it could be seen as a willful act taken to evade $750,000 of income tax liability.”
Elie Mystal, Washington Post
“According to the Times, Trump has about $421 million in debts which he has personally guaranteed and which are coming due over the next several years…The Covid-19 pandemic has [also] taken a particularly brutal toll on the sectors in which the Trump Organization operates — real estate, travel and leisure. If Trump is unable to meet his debt payments, he’s either going to have to sell assets or get bailed out by a friend with funds…
“If Trump was still just a reality TV oddity, that wouldn’t be earthshaking. But he’s president, and the trade-offs someone like him would be willing to make to save his face and his wallet taint every public policy decision he makes – including issues around national security. If Vladimir Putin, for example, can backchannel a loan or a handout to the president, how hard is Trump going to be on Russia?”
Timothy L. O’Brien, Bloomberg
“The returns also show that Trump’s empire garnered more revenue from abroad than previously known. Over the past two decades, for example, Trump earned at least $13 million in a licensing deal for two towers in Turkey; a similar agreement in the Philippine capital of Manila was worth $9.3 million; and he made $5 million in a botched hotel project in Azerbaijan, roughly twice what he revealed in an ethics filing. Furthermore, Trump in 2017 paid hundreds of thousands of dollars more in taxes to foreign countries like Panama, India, and the Philippines than he did the US, where he paid the lowly sum of $750…
“Ensuring foreign powers don’t have financial leverage over government officials is why, as [Mieke Eoyang, a former staffer on the Senate Intelligence Committee] pointed out on Twitter, ‘Debt is one of the factors that goes into the denial of a security clearance. Foreign Indebtedness is a red flag.’… [The Trump Organization] gives nations an unprecedented extra leverage point to influence an American president.”
Alex Ward, Vox
“As the old adage goes, the real scandal is usually what is legal. Trump might well have crossed legal lines in order to avoid taxes. He should certainly be investigated. But much of what he’s done is standard operating procedure for the American rich and perfectly within the law. That’s a problem that needs more than an election to fix. If Biden does win, he should appoint [Senator Elizabeth] Warren to a position where she can help craft a wealth tax.”
Jeet Heer, The Nation
“The portrait of a man who earned hundreds of millions of dollars, lived a life of comic excess and yet, in many years, paid nothing in federal income taxes is an indictment of the federal income tax system. It illustrates the profound inequities of the tax code and the shambolic state of enforcement… Republicans in Congress have slashed funding for the I.R.S., stripping the agency of expertise, resources and authority. The number of I.R.S. auditors has fallen by one-third since 2010…
“As ProPublica has reported, the government now audits lower-income households that claim the earned-income tax credit at roughly the same frequency as high-income households. It’s easier for the depleted agency to pick on people who can’t afford to hire expensive tax attorneys. The result? On current trends, the federal government will fail to collect $7.5 trillion in taxes over the next decade — about 15 percent of the total amount owed… Congress should restore every penny of funding stripped from the I.R.S. since 2010 — plus whatever is necessary for the agency to perform its critical work.”
Editorial Board, New York Times
