The Trump Card...

[ATeam]

The Trump Tax Story So Far

"But we have long known the basic story. Trump is a bad businessman who seems to lose money on everything from casinos to golf clubs, with steaks and vodka and even a so-called university in between. So the main reason he often pays so little, if any, in taxes, is that he often reports a loss. He also lost other people’s money and got big tax breaks for that." (Source) (Emphasis mine)

I'm not willing to give Trump the free pass this opinion writer is. Yes, Trump pays little taxes because he often reports business losses. And it is perfectly legal to deduct one's business losses from revenue and thereby reduce one's tax liability. But what are Trump's reported losses based on? Are the deductions legitimate? How are the deductions substantiated? We'll likely learn more as Trump's now-public tax returns are further reviewed.

Example: When Diane and I were living and working on the road as expediters, we deducted the cost of fuel. That's a legitimate business expense. It is not legitimate to multiply that number by two and deduct double the amount. It's legit to deduct the cost of fuel. It is called fraud if an expediter deducts twice the amount of the actual expense.

There has already been a lot of talk about Trump reporting illegitimate values for tax, insurance and bank-loan purposes. Now that Trump's returns are public, we're likely to learn more about the veracity of such statements.

 

[Pilgrim]

Actually, Rettig IS a hand-picked Trump acolyte. If he was in any way associated with the Obama administration, I cannot find mention of it with Google searches. What leads you to believe he was?

Maybe you should have searched for the IRS commissioners who served under Trump prior to Rettig's appointment, and the one who was quoted in the source article I used in the earlier post. Rettig was never mentioned.

John Koskinen served from Dec 2013 to Nov 2017. Prior to Rettig, David Kautter served as acting director from Nov 2017 to Sept 2018. Apparently none of these guys were enthusiastic about auditing wealthy taxpayers. Those with good memories will remember Koskinen as the one who claimed to have lost Lois Lerner's 30,000 emails during her investigation.

"John Koskinen, who served as IRS commissioner during both the Obama and Trump administrations, said the policy has been out of the public eye because presidents have traditionally released their tax-return summaries to the public.
“It only became an issue with a president who refused to release his tax returns,” Koskinen said. “If Trump had been releasing his returns, nobody would have raised this issue...
Steve Rosenthal, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, said the IRS’ failure to audit Trump is a showing that “the mandatory auditing program is broken, we cannot rely on the current system to fairly audit the president, and there’s a general problem of the IRS auditing sophisticated taxpayers.”
Rosenthal added: “This is a much larger problem than Donald Trump — yes, he makes bad things worse, but the situation was bad to begin with.”

IRS mandatory presidential audit policy goes under spotlight - Breitbart

An IRS policy governing the audits of tax returns filed by U.S. presidents is under new scrutiny IRS mandatory presidential audit policy goes under

www.breitbart.com

 

[muttly]

Koskinen Lied - 30,000 Lois Lerner Emails Recovered by IRS Inspector General

The IRS Conservative Targeting Scandal involved: Hundreds of conservative groups were targeted At least 5 pro-Israel groups Constitutional groups Groups that criticized Obama administration At least two pro-life groups An 83 year-old Nazi concentration camp survivor A 180 year-old Baptist paper...

www.thegatewaypundit.com

 

[ATeam]

Steve Rosenthal, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, said the IRS’ failure to audit Trump is a showing that “the mandatory auditing program is broken, we cannot rely on the current system to fairly audit the president, and there’s a general problem of the IRS auditing sophisticated taxpayers.”
Rosenthal added: “This is a much larger problem than Donald Trump — yes, he makes bad things worse, but the situation was bad to begin with.”

A candidate releasing their tax returns is different than an IRS audit of that candidate's returns.

Regardless of who the commissioner, acting commissioner or hand-picked acolyte may be, your quote above is the core issue for me. The IRS, under its own policy is supposed to audit every president's tax returns every year. Doing so provides assurance that the president is not receiving unfairly favorable treatment under the law and the standards that apply to the public apply to them too. But the system is broken.

IRS reform is needed. A step in that direction was taken recently when congress increased IRS funding. That makes up for the funding cuts made in prior years. How far this will go is questionable as many US House, US Senate and administration members and staffers are multi-millionaires. Will the rich act to increase their taxes? Likely not. So the poor will continue to grow as the middle class is taxed and stressed out of existence and the economic divide continues to expand.

Regarding the argument that the IRS has a problem auditing "sophisticated taxpayers," I call BS.

The Trump Organization is tiny compared to numerous American companies. Trump's wealth is tiny compared to that of other billionaires whose wealth is vastly higher. The very wealthy and very large companies have no trouble at all keeping track of their books and filing tax returns. That's why they have accounting departments. Trump is more of a challenge for the IRS because he is evasive and uncooperative.

I also reject the idea that the Trump Organization is too complex to be easily audited. By easy, I do not mean quickly done by one examiner. I mean the steps of a standard audit applied in their usual fashion. Because the Trump Organization is large, it would take a fair amount of manpower to audit it. But that's a question of IRS resources, not of "sophisticated taxpayers."

Here's an example. The Trump Organization consists of 400-500 companies organized under the Trump Organization umbrella. From Trump's now-released tax returns, we know 26 of those companies are Schedule C companies that reported zero revenue and substantial losses. Those losses were used to offset some of the tax bill Trump would have otherwise paid.

An audit would have an examiner looking deeper into those companies for evidence that substantiates the claimed losses. Do these companies even exist in the real world? If so, how exactly did it come to be that none of them had any revenue and all of them had losses? Are these real companies, or are they paper entities fraudulently created by Trump for the purpose of illegal tax evasion?

Answering that question has nothing to do with Trump being a "sophisticated taxpayer." It's simply about putting enough examiners on the job to run such questions down.

 

[ATeam]

Trump's Schedule C Schemes: A Record of Intentional Tax Fraud

The tone and source of this article will likely prompt many Trump supporters to reject it as fake news or meritless because it is written by an "anti-Trumper." While pro-Trumpers are correct about the tone and source, they would be wrong to reject it as false. If you can read beyond the tone, you will see the article lays out objectively verifiable facts (documented court cases) that describe the scheme Trump used in the past and continued to use in recent years.

The author clearly shows this tax crime is intentional, chargable, easily prosecuted, and easily understood by a jury. I'm hoping that's exactly what happens. Trump has a record of committing this fraud and his recent returns show he continues to do so. Lock him up!

Trump's Brazen Tax Cheating Revealed

Trump brazenly cheated on his income taxes, David Cay Johnston shows in his latest column at DCReport.org.

www.dcreport.org

 

[ATeam]

Now We Know Why Trump Furiously Fought to Keep His Tax Returns Private

David Cay Johnston: "Donald Trump knowingly committed dozens of brazen tax frauds during the six years when he ran for office and was President, my analysis of the Congressional report on his tax returns and other documents shows. This explains why he fought all the way to the Supreme Court in a failed effort to keep his tax information secret." (Source)

A remarkable aspect of this is the simplicity of the case. The fraud was committed using Schedule C tax returns. Schedule Cs are used by sole proprietorships which are owned and operated by one person, the sole proprietor. In this case, Donald Trump is the sole proprietor. There are no other parties. Trump himself and Trump alone is implicated as the perpetrator of this fraud. And there is no clock to run out because there is no statute of limitations on civil tax fraud.

Some are saying Trump's previous experience with this fraud proves intent in the recent instances. Proven intent would make this a criminal case in which the statute of limitations would apply. But given how clear-cut this case is and that the evidence exists as documents already in the public domain, this would be an easy and relatively speedy case to bring.

Criminal or civil, this is not lawful tax avoidance. It is unlawful tax fraud.

 

[danthewolf00]

Republican news channels talked about the former pope dieing.....
Democrat news channel msnbc talked about trump's tax returns.....
Democrats talk about trump more than they report any news.

 

[danthewolf00]

Trump has been out of office for 2 years now and Democrats are still afraid of him....they need to keep him out of office because he makes them look bad.
They have screwed up oil,natural gas,shipping and and baby formula and now baby medicines.....oh and they raised inflation to record levels not seen in over 40 years.

 

[Pilgrim]

Trump's Schedule C Schemes: A Record of Intentional Tax Fraud

The tone and source of this article will likely prompt many Trump supporters to reject it as fake news or meritless because it is written by an "anti-Trumper." While pro-Trumpers are correct about the tone and source, they would be wrong to reject it as false. If you can read beyond the tone, you will see the article lays out objectively verifiable facts (documented court cases) that describe the scheme Trump used in the past and continued to use in recent years.

The author clearly shows this tax crime is intentional, chargable, easily prosecuted, and easily understood by a jury. I'm hoping that's exactly what happens. Trump has a record of committing this fraud and his recent returns show he continues to do so. Lock him up!

Trump's Brazen Tax Cheating Revealed

Trump brazenly cheated on his income taxes, David Cay Johnston shows in his latest column at DCReport.org.

www.dcreport.org

The tone and source of this article create the premise that Trump sat up at night with a legal pad and a few sharpened pencils dreaming up schemes to screw the IRS. Johnston's claims are a collection of liberal fantasies and half-thuths with a few bold-faced lies thrown in that ignore this simple fact of life: Rich people don't do their own taxes. The idea that Trump was forging preparer signatures with paper, scissors and a copying machine is laughable.

From the above article: “We did not” prepare that return, Mitnick testified, referring to himself and his firm. In other words, the tax return was a forgery. Mitnick’s signature was applied using scissors and a photocopy machine..."

However, this doesn't square with statements by Jack Mitnick* in interviews from 2017 (bold emphasis mine):
“I did all the tax preparation. He never saw the product until it was presented to him for signature." Pushing back at Trump's own suggestion that he "brilliantly" used tax laws to his own advantage, Mitnick added, “I’m the one who did all the work."
Speaking to CNN on Wednesday morning, Mitnick added that Trump had "virtually zero" involvement in the process and said he saw no evidence that Trump was able to "game the tax code" as he has since indicated. And in a separate interview with NBC News, Mitnick said, "As far as I know, and this only goes through 1996, he didn't understand the [tax] code, nor would he have had the time or patience to learn the provisions."

*Mitnick was part of Mazars LLC, a huge accounting firm that does business worldwide in over 90 countries.

Trump’s Ex-Accountant Jack Mitnick: He’s No Tax Genius

Man who compiled 1995 return says Trump doesn’t “understand” tax code.

www.thedailybeast.com

 

[Pilgrim]

Now We Know Why Trump Furiously Fought to Keep His Tax Returns Private

David Cay Johnston: "Donald Trump knowingly committed dozens of brazen tax frauds during the six years when he ran for office and was President, my analysis of the Congressional report on his tax returns and other documents shows. This explains why he fought all the way to the Supreme Court in a failed effort to keep his tax information secret." (Source)

A remarkable aspect of this is the simplicity of the case. The fraud was committed using Schedule C tax returns. Schedule Cs are used by sole proprietorships which are owned and operated by one person, the sole proprietor. In this case, Donald Trump is the sole proprietor. There are no other parties. Trump himself and Trump alone is implicated as the perpetrator of this fraud. And there is no clock to run out because there is no statute of limitations on civil tax fraud.

Some are saying Trump's previous experience with this fraud proves intent in the recent instances. Proven intent would make this a criminal case in which the statute of limitations would apply. But given how clear-cut this case is and that the evidence exists as documents already in the public domain, this would be an easy and relatively speedy case to bring.

Criminal or civil, this is not lawful tax avoidance. It is unlawful tax fraud.

Once again this "reporter" implies that Trump either prepares his own taxes or plays a significant part in tax preparation. This is simply not the case, and anyone who looks at these tax returns and their preparation process with minimal objectivity will realize that there absolutely are other parties - accountants and lawyers - involved. There is no way to accurately portray Trump's tax return mess as a simple case. He's certainly not pure as the wind-driven snow, but it's not nearly so bad as the liberal media and Democrats would have us believe. The following article from CBS news offers a good summation of what we know so far, including copies of the returns themselves. Personally, I looked at the 2018 return (because it was the shortest) and noticed that on every Schedule C form Trump was listed as not participating in the operation of the companies. If anyone wants to slog through all of his returns, knock yourselves out; personally, I'm done with this nonsense.

There also was this headline offered by one of their forensic accountants:

"Forensic analyst says Trump tax returns raises questions but he sees no major red flags"​

Trump's federal tax returns are released: Here's what we know

The documents contain details that were not previously public, such as loans he gave to his children, income from book royalties and Melania's modeling, and how much of his presidential salary was given to charity.

www.cbsnews.com

 

[danthewolf00]

You have to be a trained cpa to even understand the tax codes......and they think trump did his taxes.....of 500 plus companies?

 

[ATeam]

The tone and source of this article create the premise that Trump sat up at night with a legal pad and a few sharpened pencils dreaming up schemes to screw the IRS.

Anyone can read whatever they want into the tone and source of an article. I'm encouraging readers to look to items of fact, which are the existence and content of Trump's 26 Schedule C returns. It does not matter what observesrs say Trump was doing with his pencils or mind regarding the IRS. The returns are documentary evidence of fraud.

Johnston's claims are a collection of liberal fantasies and half-thuths with a few bold-faced lies thrown in that ignore this simple fact of life: Rich people don't do their own taxes.

In the gated community in which Diane and I reside, I don't mow my own lawn, but I'm held responsible if I fail to keep it mowed and orderly. If I fail to keep it up, the homeowners association and community landowners do not go after my lawn care service. They come after me.

So too with rich people's taxes. It's not about who does the work. It's about who is responsible for the work being properly done. With taxes, that's the taxpayer. If you or I cheated on our taxes and the IRS wanted to charge us with that crime, we can blame our CPAs all we want. They won't pay the fine or go to jail, we will.

The idea that Trump was forging preparer signatures with paper, scissors and a copying machine is laughable.

From the above article: “We did not” prepare that return, Mitnick testified, referring to himself and his firm. In other words, the tax return was a forgery. Mitnick’s signature was applied using scissors and a photocopy machine..."

However, this doesn't square with statements by Jack Mitnick* in interviews from 2017 (bold emphasis mine):
“I did all the tax preparation. He never saw the product until it was presented to him for signature." Pushing back at Trump's own suggestion that he "brilliantly" used tax laws to his own advantage, Mitnick added, “I’m the one who did all the work."
Speaking to CNN on Wednesday morning, Mitnick added that Trump had "virtually zero" involvement in the process and said he saw no evidence that Trump was able to "game the tax code" as he has since indicated. And in a separate interview with NBC News, Mitnick said, "As far as I know, and this only goes through 1996, he didn't understand the [tax] code, nor would he have had the time or patience to learn the provisions."

*Mitnick was part of Mazars LLC, a huge accounting firm that does business worldwide in over 90 countries.

We lack the information to fully know the particulars of the "scissors and copy machine" aspect. But the court felt it knew enough about the case to rule that Trump committed tax fraud.

 

[ATeam]

Once again this "reporter" implies that Trump either prepares his own taxes or plays a significant part in tax preparation.

Whether Trump prepares his tax returns himself or not; and whether he understands tax code or not; Trump himself is personally responsible for complying with tax law. He does not get a free pass under the law. No one does. And where rich people do seemingly get a free pass, the illegal deeds should be charged and treated as the crimes they are.

This is simply not the case, and anyone who looks at these tax returns and their preparation process with minimal objectivity will realize that there absolutely are other parties - accountants and lawyers - involved.

Again, the fact that others are involved is irrelevant. Trump himself is responsible for the content or absence of required content of the tax returns he files. And no, in the eyes of the law, others are not responsible for the returns filed under Trump's name. Trump is responsible for what is filed.

There is no way to accurately portray Trump's tax return mess as a simple case.

You are 100% correct, if you look at Trump's many businesses from the 30,000 ft. level. But it is entirely possible to zoom in on particular acts and determine if they were criminal or not.

Example: Trump is not in legal trouble because of his many presidential acts. He is in deep trouble because he was found to have classified documents at Mar-a-Lago.

He's certainly not pure as the wind-driven snow, but it's not nearly so bad as the liberal media and Democrats would have us believe.

That's a broad characterization both ways and the prosecutors and courts don't care. It matters not to them if Trump is pure as the drive snow or as bad as the liberal media and Democrats would have us believe. In these posts, we are talking about particular instances of tax fraud. Those are specific crimes, easily focused on, and appropriately taken up in the public interest.

With particular crimes, the big picture matters little. If a highly respected pastor worked that way for his entire life, and then robs a bank. He is charged as a bank robber. The specific act trumps (pun intended) the general reputation.

The following article from CBS news offers a good summation of what we know so far, including copies of the returns themselves. Personally, I looked at the 2018 return (because it was the shortest) and noticed that on every Schedule C form Trump was listed as not participating in the operation of the companies. If anyone wants to slog through all of his returns, knock yourselves out; personally, I'm done with this nonsense.

I have not looked at the documents themselves. To me, a box being checked on a Schedule C is less significant than the bigger fact that numerous Schedule C returns were actually filed; returns which state no revenue but many losses. That's a crime if the companies and/or their revenue and expenses cannot be substantiated. It's a crime Trump committed before. We know that for a fact.

Time will tell if he is charged with the same crime again. But now that his tax returns are public, and the evidence is in the open for all to see, the likelihood of him being investigated and charged by the feds, State of NY and/or City of Manhattan is high.

 

[Ragman]

One has to be amazed with all the evidence, the apologies for Trump continue.

Just amazing.

 

[ATeam]

One has to be amazed with all the evidence, the apologies for Trump continue.

Just amazing.

Yes. I still struggle to understand what I call the great divide. I have highly intelligent and successful business friends in our community who look at the same facts I do and form the opposite opinion about Trump. And I expect they are as perplexed about my conclusions as I am about theirs.

 

[danthewolf00]

Right you have Democrats that have not paid on taxes owed and they not lose their job or be charged with felony.....yet trump is going to be just to keep him out of office.

 

[muttly]

One has to be amazed with all the evidence, the apologies for Trump continue.

Just amazing.

Now do Biden.

 

[Ragman]

Now do Biden.

I'm done playing ....

 

[ATeam]

Trump has been out of office for 2 years now and Democrats are still afraid of him....they need to keep him out of office because he makes them look bad.

You are right and wrong. You are right to say the Democrats are afraid of Trump. So are a number of independents and Republicans. They have seen Trump in office and the results he generated. They are deeply troubled by the idea that Trump might hold that office again.

You are wrong to say Trump makes the Democrats look bad. A significant number of midterm elections were lost by Republicans this year, not because Trump made the Democrats look bad, but because Trump's endorsed candidates made the Democratic candidates look better than Trump's picks and the association with Trump they thereby gained.

 

[muttly]

You are right and wrong. You are right to say the Democrats are afraid of Trump. So are a number of independents and Republicans. They have seen Trump in office and the results he generated. They are deeply troubled by the idea that Trump might hold that office again.

You are wrong to say Trump makes the Democrats look bad. A significant number of midterm elections were lost by Republicans this year, not because Trump made the Democrats look bad, but because Trump's endorsed candidates made the Democratic candidates look better than Trump's picks and the association with Trump they thereby gained.

Trump achieved great results. Economy and stock market were booming. Inflation and gas prices were low. No foreign policy disasters as well.