Fake News?
New York Times Bombshell
The above set of Tweets is in response to a New York Times bombshell on Trump’s taxes released yesterday.
Please consider LONG-CONCEALED RECORDS SHOW TRUMP’S CHRONIC LOSSES AND YEARS OF TAX AVOIDANCE.
The tax returns that Mr. Trump has long fought to keep private tell a story fundamentally different from the one he has sold to the American public. His reports to the I.R.S. portray a businessman who takes in hundreds of millions of dollars a year yet racks up chronic losses that he aggressively employs to avoid paying taxes. Now, with his financial challenges mounting, the records show that he depends more and more on making money from businesses that put him in potential and often direct conflict of interest with his job as president.
The New York Times has obtained tax-return data extending over more than two decades for Mr. Trump and the hundreds of companies that make up his business organization, including detailed information from his first two years in office. It does not include his personal returns for 2018 or 2019. This article offers an overview of The Times’s findings; additional articles will be published in the coming weeks.
The tax data examined by The Times provides a road map of revelations, from write-offs for the cost of a criminal defense lawyer and a mansion used as a family retreat to a full accounting of the millions of dollars the president received from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow.
The Charges
The article is very long and very detailed. Excerpts do not do the article justice.
If you can get a copy, please read it. Perhaps the New York Times will remove its paywall on this one.
$700 Million Casino Break
One of the more damning claims is that Trump abandoned property (walked away from a casino partnership) to take a business tax credit.
The language required by the IRS is very specific and Trump used that language.
If the I.R.S. learns that the person walking away received anything of value, the allowable losses are reduced to just $3,000 a year.
Trump got a $700 million break but when the casino bankruptcy concluded, Trump got 5 percent of the stock in the new company. If accurate, this is a criminal violation.
$26 Million in Consulting Fees
Another point the article makes regards a curious pattern between 2010 and 2018. Mr. Trump wrote off some $26 million in unexplained “consulting fees” as a business expense across nearly all of his projects. It appears Trump reduced his taxable income by treating a family member as a consultant, and then deducting the fee as a cost of doing business.
Tax Deductions for Personal Use
One of the more amusing is that Trump paid more someone over $70,000 to style his hair during “The Apprentice.” Together, nine Trump entities have written off at least $95,464 paid to a favorite hair and makeup artist of Ivanka Trump.
What About the Debt?
In 2012, Trump took out a $100 million mortgage on the commercial space in Trump Tower. Nearly the entire amount went as a payout. Trump has paid $15 million in interest but the full $100 million comes due in 2022.
He is personally responsible for loans and other debts totaling $421 million, with most of it coming due within four years.
18 Revelations
A $750 tax bill. An IRS audit over a large refund. Debts soon coming due. Here are key findings from decades of President Trump’s tax records.https://t.co/M69FUdATbj
— The New York Times (@nytimes) September 28, 2020
National Security Issue?
Speaker Pelosi: New report that President Trump has more than $300M in loans coming due in the next few years exhibits a “national security issue” that raises questions about whether foreign nations or individuals could have leverage over the president. https://t.co/7rjpIgw4nA
— NBC News (@NBCNews) September 28, 2020
Follow the Money
Trump made millions in places such as Philippines, Turkey, India, rendering him vulnerable to foreign pressure. Indeed Bolton said Trump’s decision-making on Turkey was motivated by business interests.
That is a shocking corruption of foreign policy. https://t.co/hCcRkArrlt
— Max Boot 🇺🇦🇺🇸 (@MaxBoot) September 28, 2020
Brief Synopsis
“The revelations are obvious fodder for the president’s challenger, Joe Biden.”
– @SteveKornacki says about NY Times report alleging years of tax avoidance by Pres. Trumphttps://t.co/pLe8NLSDfN
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 28, 2020
Ad Hominem Attacks Coming
The Ad Hominem attacks are underway. Trump fans question the sources dismissing the massive number of detailed charges.
Question of the Day
And you won’t disclose your taxes. Gee I wonder why.
By the way, where are the results of your drug test? https://t.co/wx6mK3kEwM
— Mike “Mish” Shedlock (@MishGEA) September 28, 2020
Not Fake News
The tax issue is real, not fake. But that does not mean the charges are all true.
However, there is a simple way this could have been solved years ago.
The easy way for Trump to prove the charges are false is for him to release the tax returns.
He could have put this behind him after the election in 2016.
He didn’t.
As Trump himself says “Gee, I wonder why.”
Avoidance Addendum
Much of the NYT report was avoidance.
But Trump took a $700 million writeoff while receiving a hidden benefit. He can easily go to jail over that. It’s tax fraud.
That he paid no taxes is a big yawn legally, but probably not to the public.
Very damning report from many angles https://t.co/ga2ktoMHrS
— Mike “Mish” Shedlock (@MishGEA) September 28, 2020
Three Points
- Avoidance is not a concern, legally.
- The public may see paying no taxes differently however.
- The big news is illegal writeoffs and illegal payments to family, not avoidance. Trump could easily wind up in jail.
Mish
Keep it going Mish!
Trumpalina is correct it is fake news. His entire IRS forms are laced with fake numbers downplaying his wealth to avoid paying the taxes he should have to pay. He like other wealthy individuals have more than enough tax loopholes to use to diminish their taxes. But,.he can’t help his narcissistic ego mind laced with a 12 year olds mentality,..he has to lie.
But when he applies for a loan from Duestche Bank he pumps up his numbers displaying the great wealth he has. More fake news,…more fake numbers.
All that was done was a simle comparison of what his tax forms displayed for any given year based on what he wrote in was his bloated and exaggerated wealth to secure a loan.
The numbers are different for the same year.
DUDH !
Trumalina is far from a genius finanacially but I won’t agrue that he is a genius being the biggest creator of fake news that history has provided.
Michael Cohen is exactly correct. All Trumpalina does is project what he is doing to the other.
Trumpalinas gig is up.
Orange is the new color for relief from this imbecile !
INCREDIBLE , all that pure nonsense, guessing and wishful thinking I ve been reading and hearing since yesterday ….HEY, sick Trump bashers , Trump is a fckn billionaire, he can and will pay back all that insignificant debt, and YES he used legal loopholes to avoid taxes, wouldn t you if you could ??
“Insignificant debt”??? Is this the Onion? Most of his “wealth” is this “Brand.” How much will that be worth if he loses the election and winds up in jail for obstruction of justice, tax fraud or something else? How much will it be worth anyway, if he loses?
nonsense and wishful thinking ….like I said
You can read the full article here: link to archive.is
link to archive.is
The truth is Trump is highly leveraged, asset rich and cash poor. He would have been broke this last time around had it not been for the Apprentice which helped him earn $427,000,000. But he took that money and plowed it back into his core businesses which are still losing money and he’s now spent it. If he were to win a 2n term lenders would have the uncomfortable task of having to decide on foreclosure and calling in personal loans.
Entrepreneurs like Trump are the backbone of american society, no matter whether his investments went sour or not, innumerous companies, families and individuals have been living off him for decades ! TRUMP FOR PRESIDENT ! again
You cannot be serious!
How low can the bar get for Republicans before they bail out. Every single day there’s another reason to toss this guy out of office and, yet, Trumpers just keep drooling all over him. Lower the bar, lower the bar, lower the bar…just keep it going down. Pretty soon, it’ll be so low that I’ll be able to run for President on the Republican ticket and I’m a Democrat. Why not?
Ha ha! I KNEW IT!
Trump is flat broke. Has been for years!
Pure genius.
Thanks NYT for clearing this up!
Trump has my vote for sure now!
Ha ha! I KNEW IT!
Trump is flat broke. Has been for years!
Pure genius.
Thanks NYT for clearing this up!
Trump has my vote for sure now!
So, what you are saying is he is closer to the ‘little people’ than Biden will ever be – ha haa…
The same guy who cannot understand why people are willing to die to defend their country for its beliefs (“suckers” and “losers”) is the guy that owes hundreds of millions of dollars due in the next few years.
Do you think it would be a difficult decision for him to sell out his country to get out from under his debts?
With a record like that why are we putting him in charge of economic and trade policy? What results are we expecting?
Because SOCIALISM! BOOGA BOOGA!
its never socialism when it goes to farmers, oil companies airlines or banks
“Things are absolutely great! Tremendous, even!”
Everyone got what they were expecting – from the people that expected disaster all the way up through the people that would say the quotes above. The issue is more an acceptance of reality thing…
Some definitions in tax law everyone should know –
26 USC § 3401(c) Employee For purposes of this chapter, the term “employee” includes an officer, employee, or elected official of the United States, a State, or any political subdivision thereof, or the District of Columbia, or any agency or instrumentality of any one or more of the foregoing. The term “employee” also includes an officer of a corporation.
26 USC § 7701) (26) Trade or business The term ”trade or business” includes the performance of the functions of a public office.
26 USC §7701(c):(c) Includes and including The terms “includes” and “including” when used in a definition contained in this title shall not be deemed to exclude other things otherwise within the meaning of the term defined.
Under this rule, the term “includes” provides for what courts have described as a “calculated indefiniteness”. This is the expand-ability of the meaning of a statutory term to things not listed in the definition (indefiniteness), but only things of the same character as those listed(calculated).
Trump never countered with the amount he claims to have paid in income taxes.
What I’m wondering about is the state of Trump’s audit and whether its stalled. He’s President for 3.5 years. Did he or an acolyte interfere in his audit
Sounds like this story is more about our broken tax system than what Trump did or didn’t do.
Trump didn’t pay his fair share, full stop.
Because he didn’t have to……full stop ! What would you do if you had the chance ? I remember Warren Buffet saying that he wanted to pay more taxes but the system wouldn’t let him…..
Donnie in 2012:@BarackObama who wants to raise all our taxes, only pays 20.5% on $790k salary
It depends on whether what he did was legal or not. I don’t know – haven’t looked at the article and only aware of general commentary about it, so I don’t feel I have enough info to say.
BUT – if the final distillation/analysis shows he committed fraud; that would not really be an indictment of our tax system. If it shows he was just really good at avoiding taxes – well, that may or may not mean that changes are needed in our tax system. It depends on whether you want to encourage behavior like Trump’s or not.
I would guess his returns are audited every year. If the IRS audited him and didn’t find anything the story is still about our broke tax system(to complicated).
If Trump leaves or not we will still have a broke tax system. Awesome.
Team That Guy Is Probably Going To Kill Us All now appears to have another high-profile member. NBC News is reporting that in an overheard phone conversation on a commercial airline flight, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Robert Redfield groused to an unknown ally about the Scott Atlas problem. NBC says Redfield suggested Atlas “is arming Trump with misleading data about a range of issues, including questioning the efficacy of masks, whether young people are susceptible to the virus and the benefits of herd immunity.”
“Everything he says is false,” Redfield complained to his unknown “colleague.”
This tracks with Birx’s complaints, and with Atlas’ own public statements. Despite Atlas denying in forceful terms that he was promoting “herd immunity” during a recent Trump-Atlas press appearance, Redfield and Birx both are reportedly warning that Atlas is feeding Trump known false pandemic claims as he encourages Trump’s own anti-mask, anti-lockdown preferences.
And Atlas, of course, is now apparently Trump’s favorite and the most influential task forcer because of it.
There’s no way this can end well. It’s another testament to just how thoroughly committed conservatism has become to television-blustering contrarianism for the sake of contrarianism. Trump botched the handling of the pandemic, grotesquely, through apathy and alternate reality claims that it would simply not become a problem. When it did, Republicans rallied behind the theory that Trump did not fail, and that doing absolutely nothing was, in fact, an act of genius. Fox News hunted for contrarian nonsense-spewers who would back up the notion that whatever Trump was currently doing was in fact The Right Way; Trump sees the contrarian nonsense-spewers and, impressed by their suckuptitude, appoints them to prominent roles. The sycophants now have power to brush aside whichever unpleasant scientists, legal experts, or governmental experts are currently making Donald sad.
When you start out every argument with the claim that Donald Trump is, despite having both arms trapped in vending machines, a sublime genius whose every move is the right move, then work backwards to find new toadies willing to defend whatever it is Trump has done, you end up precisely where Republicanism has ended up: All toadies, all the way down, and an incompetent, bumbling government that cannot muster a sensible response to any crisis.
Where Trump and Atlas are going on this one is obvious. Trump’s intent is to pry open as much of the economy as necessary—including schools, sports, and whatever else he can muster—in order to fake a momentary return to normality that will make October and November voters hate him slightly less. Whether that results in massive new surges of cases is of no immediate concern.
If Trump wins the election, his approach to the pandemic becomes irrelevant and he will skate through the next four years, freed from having to defend himself. If he loses, Republicans will spend the period from November to January attempting to intentionally make the pandemic and economy worse, to discredit Biden before his arrival. There’s no scenario in which Republicans are spurred to treat the pandemic seriously after November—at least not nationally. Each state will be on its own.
If Trump’s tax return shows legitimate tax ‘avoidance’ strategies, good for him and his accountant. If it is tax ‘evasion’, it is illegal. This is an issue that should have been addressed by the IRS. Complicated tax returns of high net-worth individuals deserve scrutiny to determine if the tax laws are being adhered to.
If some people do not like the certain legal tax write-offs, then they should lobby to have to laws changed to eliminate such loopholes. I think everyone should pay their fair share of taxes, but I think everybody should limit their tax burden to the fullest extent as granted by the existing tax code.
It isn’t particularly politically expedient to call oneself a billionaire and pay no taxes at all. If you’re gonna do that and run for high office, you don’t want to advertise it.
Which is why Trump did what he did.
For people like me, who actually work for a living and have paid millions over the years……it’s a turn-off. Sorry.
I try however I can to engineer my finances to reduce my tax burden, and I have no problem with that approach…..but people who supposedly make billions and pay nothing……are most likely gaming the system.
And especially people who chant “middle-class tax reform” and then do things that only benefit the top .01%.
Trump’s finances are incredibly complex…and the IRS can’t even conduct a successful audit of a simple partnership…..so the system favors super-rich people with lots of lawyers and accountants….
It’s a big club and you’re not in it, as George Carling once said, That’s my gripe.
Trump draft deferments – fraud
Trump University – fraud
Trump Charitable Foundation – fraud
Trump bank loan applications – fraud
Trump tax deductions – fraud
Trump a self-made billionaire – fraud
Trump a Conservative – fraud
Trump a Christian – fraud
Trump Presidency – fraud
It’s fake news. The Times obtained them illegally. He paid his taxes. He’s entitled to take deductions. That’s the word salad I got out Trump’s statement
Wonder if Forbes revises the 400 rankings now.
Very apparent that Trump is a failed businessman who is still living off his father’s wealth and Apprentice money based on a false narrative, success.
Trump draft deferments – fraud
Trump University – fraud
Trump Charitable Foundation – fraud
Trump bank loan applications – fraud
Trump tax deductions – fraud
Trump a self-made billionaire – fraud
Trump a Conservative – fraud
Trump a Christian – fraud
Trump Presidency – fraud
He is really smart! He is a great 4D player.
tRump may not be the greatest president since Lincoln, but he certainly is the greatest con man in the US history: his art of conman-ship won him the american presidency and support of about 40% of Americans.
I am sure the Bushes and the Clintons (and Biden for that matter) are ‘conmen’ too, difference being nobody ever went after their asses, the Presidency used to be sacred and respected….and then came poor Trump….
“Poor Trump” inherited $400 million through inheritance tax evasion. Easier to con people into thinking you are rich when you were born rich.
Expect tRump to nominate a new Director of the IRS, in the same vein he did with the US Postal Services which will deliver mail-in ballots.
He already has this covered:
Any supporter of Trump in 2020 is an idiot or a criminal.
Both ! An Idiot that is a Criminal. A Criminal that is an Idiot.
T-rump-a-liar.
Bidens new ad really hits it out of the ballpark. If his base doesn’t get this then they beyond idiots. But I have to wonder what imbecilic excuse will they make up to feel good abolut this.
Teachers paid $7,239
Firefighters paid $5,283
Nurses paid $10,216
Donald Trump paid $750
Tax avoidance is really expensive. Think of all of the receipts his organizations must collect daily! That must be a miserable job, seeing all the extravagant stuff he has the taxpayers fund.
LONG-CONCEALED RECORDS SHOW TRUMP’S CHRONIC LOSSES AND YEARS OF TAX AVOIDANCE NYT
That could be said of Uber, Lyft, Tesla/Elon Musk, Boeing now maybe to name but a few. Exclude chronic losses, so just tax avoidance:
Facebook, Google, Amazon, iPhone, just about every major corporation located in Ireland and such…Let’s make it easy and just the “The Rich.”
Maybe the NYT can do articles highlighting the very corporations Mish admires, have:
LONG-UN-CONCEALED…..
RECORDS SHOW AMAZON, GOOGLE, TESLA, BOING, IPHONE, UBER, LYFT HAVE LOSSES AND YEARS OF TAX AVOIDANCE NYT
LONG-CONCEALED RECORDS SHOW TRUMP’S CHRONIC LOSSES AND YEARS OF TAX AVOIDANCE NYT
That could be said of Uber, Lyft, Tesla/Elon Musk, Boeing now maybe to name but a few. Exclude chronic losses, so just tax avoidance:
Facebook, Google, Amazon, iPhone, just about every major corporation located in Ireland and such…Let’s make it easy and just the “The Rich.”
Maybe the NYT can do articles highlighting the very corporations Mish admires, have:
LONG-UN -CONCEALED…..
RECORDS SHOW TRUMP’S CHRONIC LOSSES AND YEARS OF TAX AVOIDANCE NYT
It was always my belief that Trump hid his tax returns because he often managed to pay little or no income tax. That simple. And yeah, if it ain’t true, prove it by showing some evidence.
I don’t like the NYT anymore….and their agenda is rather obviously biased. but I suspect the gist of this story is true.
Trump is just like Leona Helmsley. He thinks only little people pay taxes. And like every problem he ever had, he deals with tax problems the same way….by lawyering up.
Trump hid his returns because there are a lot of returns and some portions are undoubtedly able to be described by the NYT in a bad light.
I think a more fair set of points is:
• Trump had some years of profitability.
• Unprofitable years can result in zero (or “negative”) taxes by offsets from the profitable years (either past or future profits).
• Real-estate has decades of political bribery/maneuvering to create all sorts of tax loopholes. (With no known bribery/maneuvering on Trump’s part — he’s just taking advantage of the tax laws, as written.)
• Trump’s accountants and lawyers are paid big bucks to save the most on taxes that is allowed under the law.
• Trump is, presumably, scrutinized very carefully by state and federal governments. It’s not like you file a $200,000,000 loss and the IRS just rubber-stamps it.
• There are probably plenty of situations where Trumps accountants and lawyers “pushed” the edge, which is pretty standard business practice. If you don’t, you’ll be put out of business by your more “nimble” competitors.
I always wonder whether there are any savings in ‘lawyering up’ compared to just paying generally what you owe while taking advantage of the deductions and credits that you qualify for. Seems like lawyers would be expensive. But then again, I’m such a small fry that I do my own taxes…
Anybody in business is best served to get professional tax help…otherwise you pay way too much. No way an individual knows what flies and what doesn’t with the IRS, but large accounting firms do, and they spend lots of time figuring out ways to use the perks that get legislated for the corporations (but might benefit a privately held small entity). These large firms often make as much or more money managing a client’s retirement account than they do completing his or her tax return.
But, what about Hunter Biden’s tax returns? Wasn’t Hunter president of Ukraine or something similar?
I didn’t know Hunter Biden was running for President.
Last I heard, Hunter runs a Pedo Pizza Kitchen franchise on Mars.
Sorry, I’m not American so I must have missed something. Hunter is running for President?
Forgot the \s. (I hope.)
Trump is a girly man who plays the victim card and cries “fake news.” He could easily put this story to rest if it was fake news.
Thus this is the typical way things play out with Donald Trump. Sadly about 40% of our population thinks he can do no wrong and will cry “fake news” too and allow him to play the Jesse Jackson victim card. This is what conservatism is today…
Not my conservatism, but for the most part…
Let’s call it what it is. It isn’t politics. Republicans are not stupid, in fact they are very clever campaigners and spinsters (among other things too, of course). But the tax audit red herring is simply a stupidity test. If you love Trump, and you are dumb enough, he can fool you with this and dozens of his other core lies.
Why do you say that? The NYT article pretty clearly shows that there is almost certainly a tax audit going on, including criminal charges. It’s no wonder he hasn’t wanted to release his tax returns. The likely presence of criminal charges also shows why the audit hasn’t been resolved yet, as sitting Presidents aren’t charged until after they leave office.
Probably the most accurate part of the story is the legal fees. I think we have all seen Trump’s love of using the legal system to delay, tie in nuts and ultimately wear down the opposition.
He’s broke,winning reelectionwill buy him some more time,if he loses it’s back in bankruptcy court.
Is he broke? He might not have great cashflow but I suspect his net worth is still in the billions.
Not necessarily. Ex-Presidents usually make plenty from “speaking engagements” and lobbying, etc. If I recall correctly, the Clintons were supposedly broke at the end of his term, but worth millions a few years later. A bigger problem for Trump, if he loses, is that he may have a lot of legal expenses, as he may face criminal prosecutions for things that have come to light during his time in office. Of course, no doubt people will set up funds for that, and he will get some contributions.
If he broke the law then the IRS should investigate and possibly charge him. Otherwise, it’s all hearsay. Without any evidence presented, why should anyone believe the NYT? It’s not like they’re above lying to push a political motive.
There is an easy way to prove it’s hearsay isn’t there?
And if so, it was easy enough to do in 2016 wasn’t it?
Mish
Those returns will get out. He’d be better off releasing them himself.
Sorry, I think Trump well knows that the longer he can put it off, the better for him. Who knows, maybe he can get reelected and quash the whole thing . Install a crony in charge of the IRS.
Lois Lerner might be available? Oh no…she is retired on pension
Its because of the auditors that I doubt criminal charges are imminent.
His claim all along is that the IRS is investigating him. They probably are. They may not be aggressively investigating him at the moment, however, for some reason.