The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee voted to approve the release of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns.
The Democrats say this is about transparency and understanding the presidential auditing program. Republicans contend that this is a new political weapon that could target politicians and the average citizen if they become enemies of the ruling party.
GOP members are mostly right, while the Democrats have engaged in this campaign to go after Trump.
Suggesting otherwise is laughable.
Anyway, the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) published a 39-page report on Trump and his wife’s tax returns from 2015 to 2020.
Here is what was reported:
On their 2015 federal return, Trump and his wife declared negative income of $31.7 million, with taxable income of $0. The couple paid federal income taxes of $641,931.
The 2016 return declared negative income of $31.2 million, with zero dollars of taxable income. The Trumps paid $750 in taxes.
The 2017 return declared negative income $12.8 million, with $0 in taxable income. The couple paid $750 in taxes.
The 2018 return declared total income of $24.4 million, with taxable income of $22.9 million. The Trumps paid $999,466 in federal income taxes.
In 2019, the Trumps declared $4.44 million in total income, and $2.97 million in taxable income. They paid $133,445 in taxes.
The 2020 return shows negative income of $4.69 million, with zero dollars in taxable income. The tax paid by the Trumps was $0 and they claimed a refund of $5.47 million.
So, will this be the death knell for Trump’s political career? Perhaps there will be more when the full tax returns are released. For now, this is, as they say, a nothingburger.
When he made money, he paid taxes and likely used the wide array of tax loopholes and advantages. When he lost money, he did not pay anything and still used a variety of loopholes and advantages at his disposal.
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