JUST POSTED: The New York Times has obtained 10 years of previously unrevealed figures from Donald Trump's federal income-tax returns - from 1985 to 1994. Trump ran up $1.2 billion in core business losses in the decade we examined. LOTS here https://t.co/Yc23kj9HEa
Is a long-form investigative piece with interactive features, 12 pgs. printed without the illus. and graphics Below is an excerpt from the introduction; after the introduction there are four chronological sections titled THE ART OF LOSING MONEY; A VULTURE’S APPETITE; ONE HUGE PAYDAY; AN INTEREST MYSTERY. Craig shares a byline with Ross Buettner.
The data — printouts from Mr. Trump’s official Internal Revenue Service tax transcripts, with the figures from his federal tax form, the 1040, for the years 1985 to 1994 — represents the fullest and most detailed look to date at the president’s taxes, information he has kept from public view. Though the information does not cover the tax years at the center of an escalating battle between the Trump administration and Congress, it traces the most tumultuous chapter in a long business career — an era of fevered acquisition and spectacular collapse.
The numbers show that in 1985, Mr. Trump reported losses of $46.1 million from his core businesses — largely casinos, hotels and retail space in apartment buildings. They continued to lose money every year, totaling $1.17 billion in losses for the decade.
In fact, year after year, Mr. Trump appears to have lost more money than nearly any other individual American taxpayer, The Times found when it compared his results with detailed information the I.R.S. compiles on an annual sampling of high-income earners. His core business losses in 1990 and 1991 — more than $250 million each year — were more than double those of the nearest taxpayers in the I.R.S. information for those years.
Over all, Mr. Trump lost so much money that he was able to avoid paying income taxes for eight of the 10 years. It is not known whether the I.R.S. later required changes after audits.
Since the 2016 presidential campaign, journalists at The Times and elsewhere have been trying to piece together Mr. Trump’s complex and concealed finances. While The Times did not obtain the president’s actual tax returns, it received the information contained in the returns from someone who had legal access to it. The Times was then able to find matching results in the I.R.S. information on top earners — a publicly available database that each year comprises a one-third sampling of those taxpayers, with identifying details removed. It also confirmed significant findings using other public documents, along with confidential Trump family tax and financial records from the newspaper’s 2018 investigation into the origin of the president’s wealth.
Assorted interesting peanut gallery reaction from Twitter
Fox News' reaction to Donald Trump losing more money than any other American and hardly paying taxes over 10 years? Well, he "has the best accountants in the world" pic.twitter.com/QcQIq3xnx1
"One number from Mr. Trump’s tax returns is particularly striking—and particularly hard to explain: the $52.9 million in interest income he reported in 1989" but public findings "show no evidence that he owned anything capable of generating close to $52.9 million" in interest???? https://t.co/0uagXOYWq9
The NYT, and its reporters, have been encouraging people to break the law to get Trump's tax info & send it to them. It worked. And that's good! That's what journalists do. And that's what makes the indictment of Assange so dangerous: it attempts to criminalize actions like this. https://t.co/mlppyo6PRZ
I saw focus groups of Trump voters in 2016. They thought the fact he was a hugely successful businessman would make him a successful president. The fact he was a loser in business will hurt him. And that is why he’s kept his taxes secret.
Real estate developers in the 1980’s & 1990’s, more than 30 years ago, were entitled to massive write offs and depreciation which would, if one was actively building, show losses and tax losses in almost all cases. Much was non monetary. Sometimes considered “tax shelter,” .
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Is a long-form investigative piece with interactive features, 12 pgs. printed without the illus. and graphics Below is an excerpt from the introduction; after the introduction there are four chronological sections titled THE ART OF LOSING MONEY; A VULTURE’S APPETITE; ONE HUGE PAYDAY; AN INTEREST MYSTERY. Craig shares a byline with Ross Buettner.
by artappraiser on Tue, 05/07/2019 - 9:21pm
Assorted interesting peanut gallery reaction from Twitter
this one's gets a big oy vey from me
by artappraiser on Tue, 05/07/2019 - 9:34pm
Fox News is suggesting that Trump was simply trying to minimize his income to avoid paying taxes.
https://www.mediamatters.org/video/2019/05/07/fox-news-initial-reaction-nyt-bombshell-trump-tax-story-was-give-trump-credit-having-best/223647
Ed Henry ended the full segment by suggesting media needs to investigate Joe Biden’s taxes.
Edit to add:
Trump was never vetted. Cable networks profited by playing Trump rallies and outrageous statements nonstop.
by rmrd0000 on Tue, 05/07/2019 - 10:33pm
Trump must have seen the segment. He tweets the lame excuse today.
Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
Real estate developers in the 1980’s & 1990’s, more than 30 years ago, were entitled to massive write offs and depreciation which would, if one was actively building, show losses and tax losses in almost all cases. Much was non monetary. Sometimes considered “tax shelter,” .
by rmrd0000 on Wed, 05/08/2019 - 8:08am
More a "dog shelter".
by PeraclesPlease on Wed, 05/08/2019 - 1:08pm