Breaking news from the New York Times: they’ve obtained a copy of part of Donald Trump’s 1995 tax return. And it’s quite something:
Donald J. Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, a tax deduction so substantial it could have allowed him to legally avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years, records obtained by The New York Times show.
Trump appears to have had the opportunity to use a loophole to avoid paying taxes on $916 million. That’s a massive amount of tax — in the neighborhood of $300 million — that he likely took from our government, including our troops and our veterans. (And if he wants to prove he didn’t, he can do that by… releasing his tax returns).
Tax experts hired by The Times to analyze Mr. Trump’s 1995 records said tax rules that are especially advantageous to wealthy filers would have allowed Mr. Trump to use his $916 million loss to cancel out an equivalent amount of taxable income over an 18-year period.
The documents arrived via an anonymous source (seriously, like something out of a spy novel — return address was listed as “Trump Tower” — read the article for more, because I’m pushing fair use), and their validity was confirmed by Trump’s former tax accountant Jack Mitnick. The last two paragraphs of the article say it all:
“Mr. Mitnick, though, said there were times when even he, for all his years helping wealthy New Yorkers navigate the tax code, found it difficult to face the incongruity of his work for Mr. Trump. He felt keenly aware of the fact that Mr. Trump was living a life of unimaginable luxury thanks in part to Mr. Mitnick’s ability to relieve him of the burden of paying taxes like everyone else.
“Here the guy was building incredible net worth and not paying tax on it,” he said.