I saw Donald Trump's tax returns. You should, too.

[cali]

Note: The author wrote a book about the talking yam and was subsequently sued by it for claiming he wasn't nearly as wealthy as he claimed.


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Actually, as someone who saw Trump's federal tax returns about a decade ago as part of a legal action in which he sued me for libel (the suit was later dismissed), I think there probably are some things to be learned from them.

The tax returns my lawyers and I reviewed were sealed, and a court order prevents me from speaking or writing about the specifics of what I saw. I can say that Trump routinely delayed — for months on end — producing those documents, and when they finally arrived they were so heavily redacted that they looked like crossword puzzles. The litigation ran on for five years, and during that time we had to petition the court to compel Trump to hand over unredacted versions of the tax returns — which he ultimately did.

So despite Trump's statements to the contrary, here are some general questions that a full release of at least several years of his tax returns might usefully answer:

Income

Trump has made the size of his fortune a centerpiece of his presidential campaign, implying that it's a measure of his success as a businessman. He has also correctly noted that the income shown on his tax returns isn't a reflection of his total wealth. Even so, income is a basis for assessing some of the foundations of any individual's wealth — and would certainly reflect the financial wherewithal of the businesses in which Trump is involved.

After Fortune's Shawn Tully dug into Trump's financial disclosures with the Federal Election Commission and an accompanying personal balance sheet his campaign released, he noted in March that Trump "appears to have overstated his income, by a lot, which could be the reason he has so far tried to avoid releasing his returns." Tully said that Trump apparently boosted his income in the documents by conflating his various businesses' revenue with his personal income. Trump didn't respond to Tully's assessment, but he could clear up all of that by releasing his tax returns.

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ct-donald-trump-tax-returns-income-20160512-story.html

[Matt_in_STL]

1. I have never understood the fascination with tax returns

I can honestly say I have never read the tax returns of a Presidential candidate. I guess I don't understand the fascination. We know Trump and Hillary are obscenely wealthy and that Sanders is among the least wealthy in Congress. Beyond that, I can't figure out why I should care.

What they have to charity is their business. If they weren't charitable, fine. Their charity isn't going to cause me to vote or not vote for someone. Effective tax rate? Our tax system is fundamentally broken and I would be surprised if someone wasn't trying to squeeze out every dollar. Offshore accounts? Knowing that the presumptive candidates hold quite a bit of wealth, I just assume they are all out of touch and probably hold offshore accounts. I'd be surprised if they didn't.

Tax returns tell me very little about the candidate and I can't imagine there is something in a tax return that would sway me unless they had income from drowning puppies.

[cali]

2. I completely disagree