The early 1990s was a difficult period for Trump as some of his Atlantic City casinos and other ventures ended up insolvent. Neither of those sounds good.”Īlthough what was leaked made it impossible to know what caused the loss in 1995, Zelenak said it likely represented real as well as paper losses, which Trump could legally take under the federal tax code. “Either I’m exploiting the heck out of the tax system, or I really lost a bunch of money. “He’s kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place,” said Lawrence Zelenak, a tax law expert at Duke Law School. But the $916-million loss - and the likelihood that it did reduce or eliminate Trump’s tax liability for up to two decades - has raised fresh questions about the real estate developer’s business acumen and principles, however legal the tax practice may be. Whether he did or didn’t isn’t known for sure because only a small portion of that year’s records was leaked to the New York Times, and his income and losses in subsequent years have not been disclosed. Trump’s 1995 state tax returns showed that the massive loss reported that year could have allowed him to avoid paying federal taxes for many years. “Donald always takes care of Donald, and people like Donald, and this would be a massive gift.” “It’s sort of amusing to hear somebody who hasn’t paid federal income taxes in maybe 20 years talking about what he is going to do,” she said. The new taxes she proposes include a surcharge on incomes above $5 million. Trump said Clinton would be “raising your taxes, really high.”īut Clinton’s proposed new taxes are largely on the wealthiest Americans - those who earn more than $250,000 a year, which are the top sliver of earners.Ĭlinton reminded the audience that she voted in the Senate to close many of the loopholes Trump and other wealthy individuals use to lower their taxes.Īnd she said Trump’s tax plan would be a greater windfall for the wealthy and corporations than for ordinary Americans. They dispute Trump’s promise of massive economic growth that will cover costs. But outside groups have said lowering rates would increase the federal deficit if they are not offset with spending cuts.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |