Thread: Donald Trump GRILLED On Tax Rate "NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS"

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Nixon released his tax returns under audit. Why can't Trump?

by Jeanne Sahadi @CNNMoneyMay 11, 2016: 2:28 PM ET

Donald Trump once again has said he won't release his tax returns because they're under audit.

He indicated in an Associated Press story that he would do so after the audit ends, which may not happen before November.

Yet here's the thing: There's nothing preventing Trump from releasing his tax returns now. Not the IRS, not the law, not even precedent.

Turns out Richard Nixon publicly released his tax returns while they were under audit in 1973, at the height of the Watergate investigation.

But Watergate wasn't the reason, according to tax historian Joe Thorndike.

In the summer and fall of that year, "Nixon was engulfed by a controversy over his personal taxes. An outsize charitable donation was the proximate cause, but the scandal expanded to include numerous issues with the returns Nixon had filed between 1968 and 1972," Thorndike noted in a soon-to-be-published paper.

Interestingly it was that very tax controversy -- not Watergate -- that gave rise to one of Nixon's most famous quotes, Thorndike found. "People have got to know whether or not their President is a crook," Nixon told reporters in November 1973. "Well, I am not a crook."

He even went so far as to invite the Joint Committee on Taxation to also examine his returns. It did, and found Nixon owed another $476,431 -- or about $2.5 million in today's dollars. The IRS came to a similar conclusion.


Related: Trump says he can't release tax returns because of audits

But back to Trump.

It's certainly understandable why someone -- a public figure with a complicated financial life no less -- would not want to release his tax returns, especially when they're under audit. After all, why invite the added scrutiny from tax experts coast to coast?

The problem with that argument, though, is this: Trump is applying for the biggest and arguably most important job in the world.

And a requirement of that job in modern times is transparency.

While not required by law, full tax return disclosures have come to be expected of presidential nominees as well as every sitting president, audit or no.

"Americans have good reason to worry about the tax behavior of high-ranking officials. After all, when Nixon was actually serving as president, he was claiming unjustified deductions and failing to report all his income," Thorndike noted.

When asked to comment on the fact that Nixon had released his returns under audit, a Trump campaign spokesman said, "Mr. Trump is undergoing a routine audit. The documentation of this is available on our website."

http://money.cnn.com/2016/05/11/pf/t...p-tax-returns/

Trump can release his tax returns if he wants to. What he is telling you is that he doesn't want to release them until after the audit because they might change during the audit. Lawyers and accountants who handle the audits would never recommend releasing tax returns during an audit, because they might change as a result of the audit. Nixon's changed during the audit.

For Democrats and Trump opponents to be wailing about tax returns is laughable, especially when they rely on "transparency" as their motivation. If these people were interested in "transparency", we wouldn't have 30 million illegal aliens roaming around the country, $20 trillion in national debt for which no one can find a bona fide cause or benefit to explain, and an $800 trillion a year trade deficit tht politicians who disclosed their tax returns claim is "Good for America".

Hillary Clinton Releases 8 Years Of Tax Returns : It's All Politics : NPR

www.npr.org/.../hillary-clinton-to-release-8-years-of-tax-returns-we...

NPR
Jul 31, 2015 - The returns show that she and her husband Bill Clinton paid nearly $44 million in federal taxes since 2007, according to her campaign. "We've ...

So there you go! There's a "transparent" couple. Have at it, mark their box in November if that's what you want. It's a free country and people can vote for whoever they want for whatever reason.



For me it's"

VOTE TRUMP!!

RYAN'S GOTTA GO!!

SCOTT BROWN FOR VP!!

Candidates who disclose their tax returns are Crooks and Idiots.

If Trump had disclosed his taxes and Clinton refused people would be going nuts over it.

Had Trump released his taxes I wouldn't have even look at them.

When he refuses to release them I can't help by ask, What you got to hide?


Donald Trump is the first presidential candidate in 40 years to refuse to release his tax returns

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

If Trump had disclosed his taxes and Clinton refused people would be going nuts over it.

People who like the income tax and the opportunity to invade a citizen's life over funding our government would be going nuts over it. People who don't like the income tax would not be, because we think the income tax is a vile thing to begin with.

8/27/15

Donald Trump: TAX THE RICH MORE

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

Had Trump released his taxes I wouldn't have even look at them.

When he refuses to release them I can't help by ask, What you got to hide?


Donald Trump is the first presidential candidate in 40 years to refuse to release his tax returns

Trump is the first private citizen in 40 years, probably longer, who is not a politician to be running for President. Politicians don't care about what's right or what's wrong. That's why we're in the mess we're in. If you want more politicians who disclose their private personal tax returns, there are lots of them to choose from, Trump just defeated 17 of them in the Republican primary and will soon be defeating 2 more of them in the General Election.

We've had Presidents since 1789. Personally, I think the track records of the Presidents before the last 40 years who did not disclose their tax returns were far better for the country and our citizens. There is nothing at all about the disclosure of tax returns by candidates that improves the odds of their being good Presidents. In fact, if you look at the past 40 years and what these Presidents have done to our country, I think it's quite obvious that tax return disclosure is not a good indicator of who you should vote for or how they will serve our country and that's because there is no correlation at all between the two issues. That's also why tax return disclosure is not a legal requirement for candidates for Presidents. But people can think whatever they want.

Trump isn't going to release his returns until after the audit, and I hope he gets fed up with this BS hounding him to do so, and says, "Forget it, I'm not releasing them at all. If you want Hillary or Bernie over it, then have at it."

This is so standard and ordinary it shouldn't even be an issue. At this mans level of business and the professionals that serve him, this information should be readily available. I am certain it is complex, but to be under audit for the last thirteen years raises questions about how income and expenses are recognized and applied under GAAP. Needless to say, there should not have to be a full and complete disclosure, but main entries should be made available. As a taxpayer, I would expect nothing less from either candidate and this process does not mar or represent anything.

Clinton clearly does not want to release records of speeches, emails....etc. For her, I would only assume she has something to hide.

For Trump, maybe his reasons are different, but I guarantee he will eventually be forced to divulge this information. I am sure people are going to be surprised with many things on his tax return, but he is a wealthy man with multiple sources of income and accounting methods so the average person is only interested in a few items.

For those trying to pretend this is not an important step or process in the road to the presidency is taking everyone out there for stupid.

Originally Posted by joe s

. . . For those trying to pretend this is not an important step or process in the road to the presidency is taking everyone out there for stupid.

Well said.