Donald Trump 'a bad businessman or a tax cheat - probably both', say accountants

[marmar]

(Guardian UK) Accountants say the revelation that Donald Trump paid just $750 (£580) in federal income tax in 2016 shows that the US president is either “a very bad businessman or a tax cheat … probably both”.

Independent left-leaning accounting experts who analysed Trump’s tax returns, which were published by the New York Times on Sunday, said that while the full details of Trump’s tax affairs were not yet known, the details published by the newspaper showed that the president was “abusing the tax system”.

Alex Cobham, the chief executive of the Tax Justice Network, an international group campaigning for a fairer and more transparent tax system, said: “This shows that Trump is either a very bad businessman or a tax cheat who is not respecting the tax system that he is asking everyone else to pay. Probably both are true.”

The New York Times said Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes in the year he won the presidency, and the same amount in his first year in the White House. It said Trump paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years, largely because he reported losing much more money than he made. The Times said the records revealed “chronic losses and years of tax avoidance”. ............(more)

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/28/donald-trump-a-bad-businessman-or-a-tax-probably-both

[beachbumbob]

1. lets be serious, people around here and elsewhere do not understand how tax loopholes ARE designed

to show overall losses. its not bad business, trump MADE MILLIONS but loopholes were used to not only offset profits but show losses. Case in point are specialized depreciation offsets centered on real estate holdings and a whole host of income offsets. Its the taxcode thats fucked up. Not defending trump, buts a taxcode thats been bought and paid for that both republicans and democrats contribute to the mess. Where has been the call by any administration to totally rewrite the 10,000 pages of tax loopholes hidden in the code?