Nothing to learn from Trump's taxes? Experts beg to differ

[TomCADem]

Will the media actually challenge Trump's insistence that his tax returns are irrelevant or will it breathlessly follow his latest insults?

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/nothing-to-learn-from-trumps-taxes-experts-beg-to-differ/ar-BBsXlaC?ocid=spartandhp

Donald Trump told The Associated Press this week "there's nothing to learn" from all those income tax returns he won't release until an ongoing audit wraps up.

Really?

Tax experts say the feet-high stack of returns that he's posed with for photos could provide significant insights about the presumptive GOP nominee — new details on his income and wealth, how much he gives to charity, the health of his businesses and, overall, how Trump plays the tax game.

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LOW-TAX, NO-TAX?

Trump, with trademark modesty, told the AP that "nobody knows more about taxes than I do — maybe in the history of the world." And he's been clear that he tries to pay "as little as possible." Tax experts say he might even have owed no income taxes in one or more recent years by using real estate depreciation provisions and carrying forward business operating losses from previous years. Such losses can be carried forward up to 20 years on personal taxes. Author David Cay Johnston, in his book "Temples of Chance," found that Trump reported negative income early on in his business career. According to documents unearthed by Johnston, Trump in 1977 made $118,530 and paid $42,386 in taxes; in 1978 he reported negative income of $406,379 and paid nothing, and in 1979 reported negative income of $3.4 million and again paid no taxes. In response to a question about whether Trump had paid no taxes in recent years and how long the negative tax liability of the late '70s continued, Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks emailed: "You must be kidding, that is more than 35 years ago when we had an entirely different tax system."