How Trump brazenly took tax losses he knew were fraudulent

[LetMyPeopleVote]

TFG is using Schedule Cs for "outside" business that have no revenue but only expenses. TFG was sued on this before and lost.

Link to tweet

https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/taxes/how-trump-brazenly-took-tax-losses-he-knew-were-fraudulent/ar-AA15JZ0N?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=0e0408ca42604dd1958cd16cbcb873ae

Donald Trump knowingly committed dozens of brazen tax frauds during the six years when he ran for office and was President, my analysis of the Congressional report on his tax returns and other documents shows. This explains why he fought all the way to the Supreme Court in a failed effort to keep his tax information secret.

One technique he used at least 26 times between 2015 and 2020 was as simple as it was flagrant. Trump filed sole proprietor reports, known as Schedule C, that showed huge business expenses despite having zero revenue. That created losses which Trump used to offset his income from work and investments, thus lowering his income taxes. Additional Schedule Cs had expenses exactly equal to revenues while only a few showed profits.

Trump knew this was unlawful because he lost two trials over his 1984 income taxes in which he did the exact same thing, a story I broke in June 2016. Both judges, in scathing opinions, ruled that Trump committed civil tax fraud.

That Trump persisted in using the same fraudulent technique in six years of recent tax returns is powerful evidence of mens rea or criminal intent. This device is not Trump’s most lucrative tax cheating technique, but it is the easiest for jurors to understand should Trump be indicted on tax charges......

This takes us back to 1984, by far Trump’s most lucrative year up to that point. Trump Tower opened at the end of 1983, and his first Atlantic City casino opened in the Spring of 1984. Rivers of greenbacks flowed into Trump’s accounts.

State and city auditors spotted a Schedule C consulting business that showed no fees or other revenue but more than $600,000 in costs. State and city auditors disallowed the losses. Trump appealed. I couldn’t find a record of the IRS taking any action.

In scathing decisions following administrative trials, judges for New York State and City ruled that Trump was not entitled to use losses from this supposed consulting business to offset his other income.

[Baitball Blogger]

1. The most successful failure in the history of America.

And then came Elon Musk. Really, a race to the bottom.

[Maraya1969]

2. This makes me so mad that he keeps getting away with this crap while the rest of us follow the rules

and make sure everything is right so we don't get in trouble with the IRS.

[sarcasmo]

3. Exactly, Trump should have been arrested long before 2016.

[moniss]

4. Yes indeed so

basically what they would do is run their evil real estate "empire" through the year and in December, as they got close to knowing where their taxable income stood, create these phantom sole proprietorships and assign them expenses which weren't real and use those numbers as losses to offset other revenue as the article states.

Years ago I remember some major corporate guys saying that their view was to claim everything no matter how illegitimate. Then they would go through a years long process of arguing with the IRS about things not allowed until finally reaching a negotiated settlement. The whole idea being that it's all just a matter of making the numbers work so that the legal fees stay substantially below what you "save" in taxes. Also there is the benefit of using the disputed money to make other deals/revenue during the entire process. Put simply a major company and/or nefarious operator may finally settle their 2011 taxes in 2023 for example all while contesting each and every year in between. So the process rolls on repeating and using the disputed funds for many years.

[Irish_Dem]

5. When he got to the WH, ripping off the US taxpayer was second nature to him.

As POTUS he had access to untold riches and a protective POTUS shield.

He went on a crime rampage, along with Kushner, that was like taking a wrecking ball to the country.

[dutch777]

6. When is the IRS announcement about full audits as far back as allowed on TFG?

Geez, this has to be low hanging fruit for clawing back tax refunds and instituting max penalties and interest.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

7. Trump's Taxes Are Best Case Yet for Putting Him in Prison

TFG is a tax cheat and should be prosecuted
https://politicalwire.com/2022/12/31/trumps-taxes-are-best-case-yet-for-putting-him-in-prison/

Trump’s Taxes Are Best Case Yet for Putting Him in Prison
December 31, 2022 at 5:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 79 Comments

David Cay Johnston: “Don’t let the cynics who know little about our tax system trick you into thinking there was nothing all that new or important in the six years of Donald Trump’s taxes released Friday by the House Ways and Means Committee.”

“In fact, even if some of it was previously teased by the committee, the dump includes a cornucopia of information that affects your wallet—including powerful evidence of criminal tax evasion.”

Vox: Will Trump’s tax returns change anything?