In the wake of New York Times reporting that President Donald Trump paid no income taxes in ten of the last 15 years, and little in the remaining five years, some, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders, have implied that these returns are par for the course for the very wealthy. The numbers in no way bear out this claim, and the idea that wealthy Americans are getting away with paying little to no taxes is a recipe for poor tax policy.
At the center of the debate are deductions for net business losses and the ability to “carry forward” such losses to offset future tax bills. According to the Times, the president claimed losses totaling well into the hundreds of millions of dollars from hotels, golf courses and other properties. These losses allegedly played the largest part in allowing Trump to limit his income tax liability over the course of several years.
Read Full Article »