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spanone

(135,637 posts)
Fri Jun 10, 2016, 11:34 PM Jun 2016

What’s Trump hiding by refusing to release his tax returns? Here are some ideas.



DONALD TRUMP has spent a lot of time and effort branding himself as a great philanthropist. It seems he has put less effort into actually giving his own money away. The discrepancy provides one more reason that Mr. Trump should release his tax returns.

The Post reported in April that Mr. Trump claimed to have given $102 million to charity over the past five years, but that none of the donations his campaign listed appeared to have come from the candidate’s personal funds. Instead, he had his golf courses give away rounds for charitable raffles and other such things, and he had others fund his charitable foundation. Many of the recipients, meanwhile, appeared to be connected to his business and political interests.

Last month we learned that Mr. Trump did not give the $1 million donation he promised veterans during a highly publicized February campaign event until Post reporter David A. Fahrenthold started asking questions months later. Now the Huffington Post is raising questions about whether he donated proceeds from the sale of his book “Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again,” as he promised to do. Neither the Huffington Post nor we could get an answer from the campaign.

It is possible that Mr. Trump has donated more than the public record suggests. A major reason the public does not know is that a key piece of evidence is missing: Mr. Trump’s tax returns. Unlike every other major presidential candidate in modern times, he has declined to release them. Theories abound as to why. One is that they would show that he does not make as much money as he boasts. Another is that he might pay little or nothing in taxes. Yet another is that Mr. Trump simply is not generous, despite his assurances otherwise.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/instead-of-releasing-his-taxes-donald-trump-offers-nothing-but-flimsy-excuses/2016/06/09/7e687110-2db9-11e6-9de3-6e6e7a14000c_story.html
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What’s Trump hiding by refusing to release his tax returns? Here are some ideas. (Original Post) spanone Jun 2016 OP
All of the above: The Velveteen Ocelot Jun 2016 #1
I think you're exactly right radical noodle Jun 2016 #4
Post removed Post removed Jun 2016 #2
Trump is a scam artist, he does not pay taxes. Thinkingabout Jun 2016 #3
Trump doesn't make as much money as he claims. His secret is that he is a fraud. Agnosticsherbet Jun 2016 #5
Real estate has the best deductions Yupster Jun 2016 #6
He's bankrupt. mwooldri Jun 2016 #7

The Velveteen Ocelot

(115,280 posts)
1. All of the above:
Fri Jun 10, 2016, 11:36 PM
Jun 2016

He hasn't got nearly as much money as he claims, and he's not much of a philanthropist, and he doesn't pay much in income taxes.

Response to spanone (Original post)

Yupster

(14,308 posts)
6. Real estate has the best deductions
Sat Jun 11, 2016, 12:30 AM
Jun 2016

My guess is after all the depreciation and mortgage costs, he pays a very low adjusted tax rate.

mwooldri

(10,291 posts)
7. He's bankrupt.
Sat Jun 11, 2016, 12:54 AM
Jun 2016

Morally and politically I know that to be true... but he's bankrupt financially. His personal finances are a shell game. The one thing he is good at is managing cash flow. A lot of money moving may give a semblance of wealth but if there's more going out then there's coming in... then you'll go bankrupt.

Wasn't there some news about his campaign filing Chapter 11?

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