Post by ck4829 on Oct 4, 2016 12:04:30 GMT
This weekend the New York Times detonated a bombshell by reporting that Donald Trump, using a loophole that benefits wealthy dynastic families, declared nearly a $1 billion loss on his 1995 tax returns—a loss that possibly allowed him to avoid paying any federal taxes for 18 years. (The full impact of this loss is not publicly known because Trump has stubbornly refused to follow the traditional practice for presidential candidates releasing his tax returns.) The Times account included a damning quote from Trump's former accountant: "Here the guy was building incredible net worth and not paying tax on it." After the story broke, the Trump campaign released a statement blasting the newspaper, calling Hillary Clinton more crooked than Richard Nixon, and claiming Trump "has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes, sales and excise taxes, real estate taxes, city taxes, state taxes, employee taxes and federal taxes, along with very substantial charitable contributions."
Without his tax returns, there is no way to determine if the campaign's assertion about Trump's taxes and charitable contributions is true. But in the past, Trump has frequently decried other Americans for not paying taxes.
On July 18, 2011, Trump appeared on Fox News and was asked about President Barack Obama's comments that well-to-do Americans should make a sacrifice for the country by paying more in taxes. He replied:
Well, I don’t mind sacrificing for the country, to be honest with you. But you know, you do have a problem because half of the people don't pay any tax. And when he's talking about that he's talking about people that aren't also working, that are not contributing to this society. And it's a problem. But we have 50 percent. It just hit the 50 percent mark. Fifty percent of the people are paying no tax.
www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/donald-trump-taxes-50-percent-Americans-dont-pay
Did Trump include himself as part of that non-contributing group?
Without his tax returns, there is no way to determine if the campaign's assertion about Trump's taxes and charitable contributions is true. But in the past, Trump has frequently decried other Americans for not paying taxes.
On July 18, 2011, Trump appeared on Fox News and was asked about President Barack Obama's comments that well-to-do Americans should make a sacrifice for the country by paying more in taxes. He replied:
Well, I don’t mind sacrificing for the country, to be honest with you. But you know, you do have a problem because half of the people don't pay any tax. And when he's talking about that he's talking about people that aren't also working, that are not contributing to this society. And it's a problem. But we have 50 percent. It just hit the 50 percent mark. Fifty percent of the people are paying no tax.
www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/10/donald-trump-taxes-50-percent-Americans-dont-pay
Did Trump include himself as part of that non-contributing group?
