THE PRESIDENT'S TAXES: Long-concealed Records Show Trump's Chronic Losses & Years of Tax Avoidance

By artappraiser on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 5:31pm |

Finally. The Times obtained Donald Trump’s tax information extending over more than two decades, revealing struggling properties, vast write-offs, an audit battle and hundreds of millions in debt coming due.

By Ross Buettner, Susanne Craig & Mike McIntire @ NYTimes.com, Sept. 27

[....]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 [....]

URL:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/09/27/us/donald-trump-taxes.html

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Lincoln Project's two cents:

Drip, drop. pic.twitter.com/be7soq3WZS
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) September 27, 2020

oops they added this quickly thereafter:

Raise your hand if you pay more taxes than supposed “billionaire” Donald Trump.
— The Lincoln Project (@ProjectLincoln) September 27, 2020

by artappraiser on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 5:43pm

for those looking for a quick summation:

BREAKING NEWS -- @realdonaldtrump paid only $750 in taxes in 2016 and again in 2017, a vastly smaller tax bill than most working Americans, according to a sweeping new examination of his tax information by the @nytimes. @susannecraig @russbuettner https://t.co/5dI5BO3MFn
— Michael D. Shear (@shearm) September 27, 2020

by artappraiser on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 5:47pm

Also, from the Times' article, here is the excerpt on the reply they got from the lawyer for the Trump organization:

In response to a letter summarizing The Times’s findings, Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, said that “most, if not all, of the facts appear to be inaccurate” and requested the documents on which they were based. After The Times declined to provide the records, in order to protect its sources, Mr. Garten took direct issue only with the amount of taxes Mr. Trump had paid.

“Over the past decade, President Trump has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government, including paying millions in personal taxes since announcing his candidacy in 2015,” Mr. Garten said in a statement.

With the term “personal taxes,” however, Mr. Garten appears to be conflating income taxes with other federal taxes Mr. Trump has paid — Social Security, Medicare and taxes for his household employees. Mr. Garten also asserted that some of what the president owed was “paid with tax credits,” a misleading characterization of credits, which reduce a business owner’s income-tax bill as a reward for various activities, like historic preservation.

by artappraiser on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 5:56pm

That a "billionaire" has paid "tens of millions" in taxes, including millions since 2015" is a pretty underwhelming defense of Trump's supposed business success. What acquisition of multiple billions would allow less than say the $100 million that'd be 5% of $2 billion? Total scam. He's totally open for Russian or other extortion.

by PeraclesPlease on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 6:31pm

Trump's lawyer:

"President Trump has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government"

Didn't say whose personal taxes.

The Trump Organization only cheats on Trump's personal income taxes, they pay the personal taxes automatically deducted for each person on the payroll, federal taxes listed on the weekly paychecks of employees.

by NCD on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 6:34pm

Maggie Haberman is live tweeting on the president's press conference (with Rudy & Chris Christie!) going on now.

https://twitter.com/maggieNYT

In addition she reminded folks of this:

Reupping in light of tonight’s NYT story. By @npfandos and me last year https://t.co/RgYwQ7BhsH
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) September 27, 2020

by artappraiser on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 5:51pm

There's always a tweet:

Proof point #74,032 that Trump is under a curse that forces him to live out his own tweets: pic.twitter.com/62aJjKiAs4
— Marc Channick (@Sorry_What_Now) September 27, 2020

by artappraiser on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 5:59pm

>> @JohnJHarwood on @CNN: This story is "a devastating picture of a president who is bleeding financially and is depending on his presidency to prop him up financially."
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 27, 2020

by artappraiser on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 6:01pm

For varied initial reaction, I will share a few of the retweets by Joyce Carol Oates, as she is selecting from a fancier more elite feed than I have and has a best-selling novelist's "eye":

BRAVO BRAVO NYTIMES! The press so much more determined, courageous, and effective than politicians. https://t.co/xhC3PY71cz
— Elaine Showalter (@ecshowalter) September 27, 2020

I helped prepare thousands of taxes for my families accounting, tax, and insurance business. I’ve never seen anything like this. Seasonal farm workers, who mostly file 1099 taxes, pay more taxes than Trump. Trump is a complete and utter criminal. #TrumpTaxReturns #LockHimUp
— Matthew Ryan Best (@BestforKY) September 27, 2020

An actual billionaire in New York once told me “Trump isn’t rich. Trump isn’t a billionaire. He’s a clown living on credit.”#SeptemberSurprise
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) September 27, 2020

The energy of the reporters who investigated 45's #taxfraud is off the hook pic.twitter.com/cszMF8kGsZ
— Marco Kaye (@MarcoKaye) September 27, 2020

It is journalistic malpractice for networks to carry a press conference with a president who does nothing but lie over and over and smear his opponent with no pushback by the reporters asking questions. They are aiding and abetting autocracy.
— Norman Ornstein (@NormOrnstein) September 27, 2020

by artappraiser on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 6:13pm

18 Revelations From a Trove of Trump Tax Records https://t.co/pa5Dbs0pdh
— Charlie Sykes (@SykesCharlie) September 27, 2020

by artappraiser on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 6:24pm

^ the above article is very helpful to get the gist

by artappraiser on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 7:47pm

for those with WaPo subscriptions, this looks like a nice primer for "what's the usual deal with real estate guys avoiding taxes" to compare with Trump:

From March 2016: How real estate magnates avoid paying income taxes. https://t.co/9TR7K1sl3v
— Philip Bump (@pbump) September 28, 2020

by artappraiser on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 7:54pm

to those pointing out that the kool-aid-drinker-type Trump fans won't care, or will even laud the scamming, I note that Rick Wilson is already thinking about the parts of the story they might well care about:

TRUMP SUPPORTERS: "I just want a manly, robust alpha-male silverback gorilla who reeks of pure testosterone and spends $72,000 for hair styling."
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) September 27, 2020

by artappraiser on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 7:45pm

They may or may not like the gorilla.

It is the leverage it gives to whatever agenda they have in mind that allows them to let a clown run the system. They don't care about the clown. They oppose the anti-clown. If you have a policy, you are "trying to put me down."

See West Side Story for further details.

by moat on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 8:04pm

Federal income taxes paid in 2017 (jointly with spouse):

Joe Biden - $3,742,974
Kamala Harris - $516,469
Bernie Sanders - $343,882
Elizabeth Warren - $268,484

Donald Trump - $750 https://t.co/1KkuViDUCe
— Max Kennerly (@MaxKennerly) September 27, 2020

by artappraiser on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 10:00pm

Federal taxes paid, first year in office

Ronald Reagan: $165,202
George H.W. Bush: $101,382
Bill Clinton: $62,670
George W. Bush: $250,221
Barack Obama: $1,792,414
Donald Trump: $750
— Christopher Ingraham (@_cingraham) September 28, 2020

by artappraiser on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 10:30pm

"That makes me smart!"

by PeraclesPlease on Mon, 09/28/2020 - 2:06am

kompromat?

One thing not to overlook in the blockbuster NYT report on Trump’s taxes is his $410M in personal debt. That represents some pretty massive leverage by people or governments with interests that aren’t necessarily ours as Americans. Kompromat, anyone?
— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) September 28, 2020

The Trump tax story is a national security story.
— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) September 28, 2020

This is unbelievable now that we have context. https://t.co/ZyAq34KBF3
— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) September 28, 2020

not the most politically damaging aspect of the tax story, but owing $421M in personal debts is a MASSIVE national security threat.
— Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) September 27, 2020

We’ve now confirmed Trump is owned by his creditors.

We need to know who paid off Brett Kavanaugh’s $200,000 “baseball” debt.
— Kaivan Shroff (@KaivanShroff) September 28, 2020

Not taking a $400k a year salary does not entitle you to a questionable $70 million dollar refund that is currently under IRS investigation. Nor does it entitle you to use the White House as a means of paying off millions to your creditors.
— Drew Morton (@thecinemadoctor) September 28, 2020

The $750 tax bill isn’t the main story here - it’s the millions of dollars of debt a sitting President owes creditors and the conflicts of interest he’s already engaged in to pay them back. pic.twitter.com/QFVhwKJ4w5
— Drew Morton (@thecinemadoctor) September 28, 2020

by artappraiser on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 10:11pm

Monday's @nytimes front page: pic.twitter.com/JrkCWoHgSU
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) September 28, 2020

by artappraiser on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 10:45pm

former DOJ IG; Asst US Attorney, SDNY; Assoc. Independent Counsel, Iran-Contra; independent monitor; law enforcement consultant:

Trump knew something we didn't when he started balking at the peaceful transfer of power. If he loses the election, he faces federal and state prosecution for bank fraud, tax fraud, wire fraud, and mail fraud, as does his entire family. No OLC memo will spare him. https://t.co/vhyAelqTjc
— Michael R. Bromwich (@mrbromwich) September 28, 2020

by artappraiser on Sun, 09/27/2020 - 11:53pm

Anne Coulter:

I don't think the conservative take on @realDonaldTrump paying no taxes should be: BECAUSE HE'S SMART!

I've paid nearly 50% of my income in taxes, year after year, and any system that allows billionaires to pay ZERO is unspeakable corrupt.

How about changing it, Democrats?
— Ann Coulter (@AnnCoulter) September 29, 2020

by artappraiser on Tue, 09/29/2020 - 1:17am

Biden, Sept. 17 tweet (I had posted it on one of PP's "Stuff" threads):

If you make under $400,000, you will not pay a penny more in taxes when I'm president.

The super-wealthy and big corporations will finally pay their fair share — and we'll invest that money in working families.

We're going to reward work — not wealth.
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 17, 2020

by artappraiser on Tue, 09/29/2020 - 2:26am

Analysis: Don't miss the Ivanka Trump bombshell buried in the Times tax story - CNN Politics https://t.co/7Q89tmZ4kd
— Charles Darwent (@darwent_charles) September 28, 2020

by artappraiser on Tue, 09/29/2020 - 3:23am

Largely how the $26mill to Melania's assistant for the inauguration got funneled back to Team Trump, making the assistant look overpaid and corrupt. And how the nontransparent Trump PAC redistributes mine to unspecified "subcontractors". And how Trump spawn etc al got paid out if the Parscale spigots.

What's really the oisser is we've known much of this for years, even that Trump's a fake billionaire at the time of last election. Why so slow coming out? A few more months and we'd be really screwed.

by PeraclesPlease on Tue, 09/29/2020 - 4:09am

NYTimes is out with Part 2:

A draft plan from November 2003 titled 'Russian fee agreement' called for an unnamed broker to provide $50 million for three Trump hotels in the U.S. and potentially "raise capital for all" of Bayrock's Trump projects.

A former Bayrock exec said the proposal never panned out. https://t.co/zTGpAmyldn
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 29, 2020

by artappraiser on Tue, 09/29/2020 - 3:34am

Fun fact: Rudy Giuliani’s clients the Khrapunov family of Kazakhstan set up an LLC, Kazbay, to launder stolen funds into real estate, including three Trump Soho condos sold by Bayrock.#FinCENFiles https://t.co/Mwzz23atHc
— Dumfounded (@j2dumfounded) September 29, 2020

by artappraiser on Tue, 09/29/2020 - 3:43am

Someone needs to put the #FinCENFiles up on one big monitor and the Trump files up on another and start connecting the damn dots.
— Adrian McIntyre, PhD (@AdrianMcIntyre) September 29, 2020

cross link to recommended FinCEN Files splainer on dagblog

Edit to add:

Dig into the #FinCENFiles ... likely you’ll find your answer there. https://t.co/BexHrvduuE
— Mikey Kay (@MikeyKayNYC) September 29, 2020

by artappraiser on Tue, 09/29/2020 - 3:39am

There’s no need to shout. The answer is @DeutscheBank (among a few others). https://t.co/hlxLKDhur9
— David Enrich (@davidenrich) September 29, 2020

Enrich is Business Investigations Editor @nytimes • Author of DARK TOWERS http://bit.ly/39rlqj2 • and THE SPIDER NETWORK http://bit.ly/2WX9twW • [email protected] • DMs open

by artappraiser on Tue, 09/29/2020 - 7:20pm

Non-liquid assets don't typically interest lenders...unless you're @realDonaldTrump, @jaredkushner, @IvankaTrump and @DonaldJTrumpJr https://t.co/vpgpKMGowP
— Reed Galen (@reedgalen) September 29, 2020

by artappraiser on Tue, 09/29/2020 - 7:22pm

^ is a Qatar linkage-as a majority partner they make it difficult to liquidate the minority partner's asset.

by artappraiser on Tue, 09/29/2020 - 7:26pm

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