Poll: why do you think Trump has not released his tax returns?

[spooky3]

I'm curious about what you think on this. It's possible that he will never release them, so we won't know, but I'm hoping we do find out later.

26 votes, 0 passes | Time left: Unlimited
	They will imply that his net worth is a lot less than he's claimed.
	0 (0%)
	They will show that he has paid little or no income tax.
	0 (0%)
	There will be multiple highly questionable entries, such as deductions that don't seem right.
	0 (0%)
	More than one of the above.
	23 (88%)
	Some other reason (please specify).
	3 (12%)
	0 DU members did not wish to select any of the options provided.
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[ShrimpPoboy]

1. All three are likely IMO

[Ready4Change]

2. Other: He just doesn't want to.

He was raised rich in a way that leaves him unaware of the fact that he is a spoiled rotten brat. All his life, if he didn't wanna, he didn't hafta.

Couple that with the subconscious sureness he likely has that, odds are, any of the other reasons on this poll will likely apply, because such things have always become "annoying" to him in the past, and now he REALLY don't wanna.

[spooky3]

7. interesting!

[PJMcK]

3. Charitable giving

Donald Trump might not donate much or anything and that would be embarrassing.

Additionally, the returns might show business relationships that he wants to keep secret.

[spooky3]

6. very good points

[Lord Magus]

4. It's almost certainly all three of those things.

There are likely a great many embarrassing things to be found in his returns.

[Third Doctor]

5. The first 3.

[EffieBlack]

8. I don't believe Trump is anywhere near as rich as he claims

Of course, the press bought it hook, line and sinker and without any independent verification, parrot his description as "Billionaire Donald Trump."

He's rich, but I don't think he's that rich.

[Quixote1818]

9. I think the main reason is because his net worth is much, much lower than he says

The illusion that he is worth so much is what all of his arrogance and self worth are built upon, not to mention the worth of his brand. He could survive a few discrepancies but take away his billions and show his investments have not done that great and then you are doing some major damage to his mojo.

[uponit7771]

10. A guy on MSNBC said "... how many billionaires do you see selling ties, hats, water or steaks?"

... he's a billionaire in assets if that and not liquid cash

[auntpurl]

13. God that is a good point that I never considered!

[Princess Turandot]

11. Door #1...

Unless he's just being petulant, it's something that makes him look bad to his ego / way of thinking. Far lower income than he wants people to imagine he earns is in this category.

Low taxes? Probably not. To him, that's a sign of his brilliance, and having the BEST accountants. And his angry-at-government fanatical supporters will think that's just great. (Romney had the sense to know that his low tax rates were a problem, but his supporters were more mainstream.)

Shaky transactions? It's hard to discover wrongdoing just by looking at a tax return, w/o details / other info that he would not give out. And the IRS would have already spotted the stuff.

[AgingAmerican]

12. He has bragged in the past about paying no taxes

[Rochester]

14. Other: He's pandering to his support base.

Trump's supporters see the release of tax returns as something desired by the educated and affluent, and by the press. And whatever those groups are for, Trumpkins are against.
This is not to say Trump doesn't have something to hide; perhaps he does. But I think he's refusing to release them first and foremost to take a stand against something his supporters dislike.

[spooky3]

15. Thanks to all who participated. It's interesting to see

That we mostly agreed. Looks as if he has very good reasons to expect that releasing the returns would be disastrous for his campaign.