Trump Tax Returns
On the GOP debate stage on Thursday evening, Donald J. Trump said he will release his tax returns eventually, but since several of the years of his returns are currently being audited, he cannot release them.
Balderdash. I'm in my 23rd year of work as a professional tax preparer and I am aware of no reason why anyone cannot choose to release their own tax returns. The IRS can't release them. But the taxpayer can. Anytime they choose to do so.
Not to mention there isn't a single good reason for Mr. Trump to refuse to release tax returns for the years that are not the subject of a current audit.
It is very ironic that Mitt Romney, whose refusal to release his own tax returns during his 2012 presidential bid until the last moment cost him dearly, has called Mr. Trump out on this subject. Actually the irony is that Trump criticized Romney for doing what Trump is doing now. Is there a bombshell in those Trump tax returns as Mr. Romney claims there is?
The moment those Trump tax returns are released, the first thing people should look at, after seeing the income on page 1 of Form 1040, is Schedule A. It will show how much, if anything, Mr. Trump claimed as charitable donations.
The 2009 tax return for President and Mrs. Obama is very interesting. When Mr. Trump says tax returns tell us nothing, he's demonstrating his utter lack of expertise in yet another area where he claims to know everything. The $13,473 in taxable interest income on line 8a tells us that the Obama's had somewhere between $300,000 and $1 million in accounts that paid interest that year. The $49,000 that the President put into his SEP-IRA was the maximum amount allowed that year. We learn that the President's work as an author earned him gross revenues of $5.6 million in 2009 (the net from his Schedule C was $5.17 million).
But if you have some experience with tax returns, there is something quite puzzling about this 2009 tax return. It shows an IRA distribution of $48,732 which should have been subjected to an Early Distribution penalty of $4,873. But that penalty doesn't show up. There isn't a Form 5329 showing which of the allowable exceptions to the early distribution penalty would have applied. So did the IRS catch this? Was it really a mistake?
If you have nothing to fear, Donald Trump, release the returns that aren't under audit NOW. I'd love to dissect them.
Balderdash. I'm in my 23rd year of work as a professional tax preparer and I am aware of no reason why anyone cannot choose to release their own tax returns. The IRS can't release them. But the taxpayer can. Anytime they choose to do so.
Not to mention there isn't a single good reason for Mr. Trump to refuse to release tax returns for the years that are not the subject of a current audit.
It is very ironic that Mitt Romney, whose refusal to release his own tax returns during his 2012 presidential bid until the last moment cost him dearly, has called Mr. Trump out on this subject. Actually the irony is that Trump criticized Romney for doing what Trump is doing now. Is there a bombshell in those Trump tax returns as Mr. Romney claims there is?
The moment those Trump tax returns are released, the first thing people should look at, after seeing the income on page 1 of Form 1040, is Schedule A. It will show how much, if anything, Mr. Trump claimed as charitable donations.
The 2009 tax return for President and Mrs. Obama is very interesting. When Mr. Trump says tax returns tell us nothing, he's demonstrating his utter lack of expertise in yet another area where he claims to know everything. The $13,473 in taxable interest income on line 8a tells us that the Obama's had somewhere between $300,000 and $1 million in accounts that paid interest that year. The $49,000 that the President put into his SEP-IRA was the maximum amount allowed that year. We learn that the President's work as an author earned him gross revenues of $5.6 million in 2009 (the net from his Schedule C was $5.17 million).
But if you have some experience with tax returns, there is something quite puzzling about this 2009 tax return. It shows an IRA distribution of $48,732 which should have been subjected to an Early Distribution penalty of $4,873. But that penalty doesn't show up. There isn't a Form 5329 showing which of the allowable exceptions to the early distribution penalty would have applied. So did the IRS catch this? Was it really a mistake?
If you have nothing to fear, Donald Trump, release the returns that aren't under audit NOW. I'd love to dissect them.
posted by me at 6:33 AM
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