Kushner Likely Paid No Federal Income Taxes for Years, Documents Show

[Mrs. Overall]

Source: NYT

Confidential documents reviewed by The Times indicate that Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and adviser, probably paid little or no income tax from 2009 to 2016.

Over the past decade, Jared Kushner’s family company has spent billions of dollars buying real estate. His personal stock investments have soared. His net worth has quintupled to almost $324 million.

And yet, for several years running, Mr. Kushner — President Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser — appears to have paid almost no federal income taxes, according to confidential financial documents reviewed by The New York Times.

His low tax bills are the result of a common tax-minimizing maneuver that, year after year, generated millions of dollars in losses for Mr. Kushner, according to the documents. But the losses were only on paper — Mr. Kushner and his company did not appear to actually lose any money. The losses were driven by depreciation, a tax benefit that lets real estate investors deduct a portion of the cost of their buildings from their taxable income every year.

In 2015, for example, Mr. Kushner took home $1.7 million in salary and investment gains. But those earnings were swamped by $8.3 million of losses, largely because of “significant depreciation” that Mr. Kushner and his company took on their real estate, according to the documents reviewed by The Times.

Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/13/business/jared-kushner-taxes.html

[Roy Rolling]

1. Kushner is following the law

Corrupt tax laws passed by Congress to benefit people like him. He's another loophole millionaire, just like Trump.

Their wealth is pilfering tax money along its way to the treasury.

[KPN]

19. Yup. Much like the financial shenanigans

that led to the 2008/09 crash were legal at the time. We are having our pockets methodically picked by the would be ruling class; if this continues much longer, will be.

[LiberalFighter]

27. How many members of Congress benefit from the same tax laws?

[olegramps]

35. I am just asking. What happens when the sell the property and its escalated in value?

Seems fair that those deductions for depreciation should be repaid since the property really did not depreciate. Or will they only be liable for the capital gains? Sounds like we need a lot changes. I doubt that it would matter which party is in control.

[melm00se]

39. I too benefit from depreciation deductions

This is what is called depreciation recapture tax.

Lets say you buy a $275,000 rental property.
You get to deduct $10,000 per year.
So after 10 years, you would have written off $100,000 in depreciation so your rental property cost basis would be $175,000.
If, after these 10 years, you sell your rental property for $600,000, you would essentially owe 25% tax on $425,000.

You can put off this reckoning by rolling the proceeds into a like investment or not taking the depreciation deduction.

[olegramps]

45. Thanks for the explaination. Seems fair to me.

If you roll over the proceeds what happens when you or someone eventually sells the property. Are they libel for the original deduction for the depreciation? Seems like this could get lost in the reinvestments over time.

[melm00se]

46. You need to buy

a like valued property. So if you sell a $600K property, you need to buy (at least) $600K in property.

This allows you to delay but not avoid the taxation, eventually there will be your final property sale and that is exposed to taxation.

[Wounded Bear]

2. Runs in the family...nt

[bluestarone]

3. The whole fucking family

This has to change!!! LOCK THEM UP!!!!

[dalton99a]

4. Kick

[Wuddles440]

5. And yet.....

they remain the masters of deflection and projection by convincing large portions of the general public that others (such as public assistance recipients) are "moochers" and are "abusing the system." When the hell are people going to wake up and realize who the actual parasites are in society? It's unfortunate that there's no organized effort to combat their messaging and propaganda machine.

[chowder66]

9. K&R.

[Wellstone ruled]

28. You are on the right track my friend,

years of being a below average Joe Blow in the Business to Business Sales and Service industries,taught me this. It is called Star Power,and you will find all kinds hanger oner's looking for some Social Status thing. Found the most phony of the crowd was the so called News Reporter looking for a big Scoop. And these so called Reporters are not about to ruin their free lunches and Cocktails as well as other Candy.

Observation from the sidelines tells one who is honest and who is a fake.
,
Am sure this story has been out in the open for years and the fear of losing certain perks kept it out of the press.

[rickford66]

6. But they complain about how "their tax dollars" are spent.

[KPN]

20. Bingo! We have a winner here!

[TeamPooka]

7. America is a rigged system.

[KPN]

23. A few politicians have been saying so.

Some for a long time.

The impact of the rigging has not hit sufficient critical mass to become the concern for a vast, unopposable majority — by happenstance or design.

[JohnnyRingo]

8. The tax code was not written by the working class.

Certainly that pink elephant of a building in NYC that he can't unload is a source of annual deduction, and perhaps that's proper, but I'm sure there are plenty of bogus exemptions as well. He may spend $2mil on #2 lead pencils a year for example. When a tax form is printed in volumes it's easy to hide fraud and I'm sure he does.

Trump would see that as the ultimate patriotism.

[Achilleaze]

10. How perfectly republican

Letting the "little people" pick up your slack, and then suckering them into voting for your deadbeat father-in-law.

[llmart]

11. Just think of what the citizens could have if not for the wealthy tax cheats.

Can you even imagine how wonderful our roads, schools, etc. would be with the tax revenue these tax cheats don't pay?

Where are all the teabaggers to protest this crap? Wasn't that their premise for their anger?

We should all be mad as hell about this.

[mopinko]

12. and those deductions are only available to big landlords.

i have a couple rental properties, and i cant take losses. i dont make enough money. go figure.

[barbtries]

13. depreciation on real estate?

what bullshit.

[SWBTATTReg]

26. Depreciation is a concept long established that when you buy an asset, it devalues over time...

except real estate (land). So, when you buy a building or asset, you get the established life of the building (established by the financial accounting standards board for all assets and the IRS), and depreciate the value over that period of time, less the salvage value. For example, a building costs 100,000 and lasts 10 years w/ an expected salvage value of 10,000. Thus a person can write off as depreciation $9,000 yearly.

If enhancements (major) are added/done to the building, their cost is added to the overall cost of the building and depreciated too. In some cases depreciation may differ depending upon the enhancement (there has been attempts to stimulate the economy by allowing an immediate, 100% depreciation of certain things.

This is not a republican trick or way to cheat people. It's an accepted method of accounting for the 'use and consumption' or deterioration of a building and has been long established, or encouraging economic activity.

It's abusing the (1) method or manner of depreciation (straight line, or accelerated, etc.) or (2) miscalculating the amount of depreciation either by skewing the years of life of the asset (3) using depreciation continually when it's been all used up (4) etc.

This is what burns me up about depreciation, is that it should accurately depict the consumption of assets and thus the marketplace should reflect this, and in some cases it does. In a lot of cases it doesn't (the market is very hot etc. and the property/building goes for a hell of a lot more than it is valued). In this case, recapture of depreciation should be done on tax returns...this is one area of possible fraud.

Also, I thought that the alternate minimum tax law would kick in for people like JK. All of these real estate people have gotten significant tax breaks over the years and this does need to be changed. It's time to change this law and encourage growth in mainline industries, not buildings where the apartments are going for millions.

[riversedge]

14. Yet, Jarah and the Trumps benefit immensly from the infrastructure surrounding them paid

for by tax dollars. damn

[lastlib]

15. Once again, "The turd doesn't fall far from the asshole.........."

We HAVE GOT to write some sane, sensible tax laws that stop these futhermuckers from gaming the system like this! It's a TOTAL SHAM, and costs our country BILLIONS! These basturds get off SCOT-FREE from their obligations, while millions of the poor and middle-class foot their bill. It's high time we put a STOP to it!

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

16. And nothing will come of this. Because our cartoon system has been exposed as the rigged bullshit

con game manipulated by the same people it should have guarded us from.

[sarcasmo]

17. They're all crooks.

[beachbum bob]

18. its the tax law that NEITHER GOP or Dermocrats have ever done anything on for obvious reasons

and why we need a fresh crop of democrats who say screw you to Peolosi and Schumer and actually make some meaningful changes

[elmac]

21. the rich, major corporations rarely pay any taxes

many get subsidies, this is normal in a capitalistic society.

[BobTheSubgenius]

22. I don't know about US tax law, but in Canada,

once one of the "depreciating" properties is sold for a profit, all those paper losses have to be recaptured.

I'm sure there is still appreciable benefit to using that strategy despite that, but I'm not interested enough to do the research. I do know that owning only one investment property did not make it a viable strategy for me...not to mention that it felt kind of shady. Property, at least around here, seldom depreciates.

[Igel]

43. And that happens in the US, too.

Capital gains, which is potentially at a lower tax rate.

[IronLionZion]

24. Millionaires play a rigged game in ways the rest of us don't even know about

and still manage to get votes of people who think it will some day trickle down to them or they'll become a millionaire in their dreams.

Not enough Republican voters ask why they've been working hard and paying their taxes when these other assholes seem to get a free ride. And then when the next recession comes the GOP will want austerity and cut benefits like Social Security and Medicare that workers have paid into our whole lives.

No matter how many multi-millionaire thieves we have, people still worry that some brown immigrant might take their job. It's insane.

[PatrickforO]

25. Jared is a parasite, like the rest of the billionaire freaks.

The only way we can rectify these things is:
1. Win seats (which means we have to volunteer to GOTV and vote ourselves).
2. Be active in our local Dem. party.
3. Hold the people we elect accountable with phone calls, letters, visits and so on - this means keep abreast of what is going on and analyze how it will affect you.
4. Run for office yourself and put in good policies after you are elected.

In the meantime, there are two things that would really make a BIG difference:

- Elizabeth Warren's Responsible Capitalism Act, which expands fiduciary responsibility of corporate officers beyond shareholder earnings to also encompass the welfare of workers, of consumers and of the environment. Enact this and we'll solve a hell of a lot of problems right away.

- Overturn Citizens United.

[Flash953]

44. This GUY is Right complaigning will only do so much

Be active as much as you can. Elizabeth Warren has it right. It's something to shoot for. Everyone can contribute a little to be a part of something better.

[OrlandoDem2]

29. Taxes are to be paid by commoners, not the aristocracy.

Didn’t Trump promise to fix the rigged system?

[calimary]

30. Reason enough, right there, for the Dems to take back the House.

Last edited Sat Oct 13, 2018, 11:26 PM - Edit history (1)

There will be investigations that AREN’T just a whitewash or bullshit. WE’ll have the chairmanship of the committees. And with that comes agenda-setting and subpoena power. We should go after ALL their tax returns and expose ALL OF THEM to the full light of day.

The trump Crime Family has been getting away with this shit for years. Because they CAN. Because they COULD. Because nobody’s ever looked into it. Because nobody ever did any checking. Because nobody’s ever been asking any questions (until just lately, that is). Because there have been NO consequences whatsoever. Because WE ALL LET THEM get away with it.

I hope a Democratic takeover will finally mean LONG-OVERDUE CONSEQUENCES for the trump Crime Family to face, at long last.

[Scubamatt]

31. Only one thing to say:

LOCK HIM UP!

All of these crooks need to be put in jail. No more “look the other way” for the good of the country, no more “investigations are off the table”; no more we have to “look forward and stop living in the past.” The good of our democracy demands that criminals and traitors be punished and that the Rule of Law be re-established. In the United States of America, NO ONE is above the law, and I am tired of these people destroying our country all the while having the gaul to wear a flag pin on their lapels. Orange jumpsuits for these criminals.

[Nitram]

32. The rich just get richer, while the rest of us get poorer.

[Hulk]

33. no surprise there.

The rich get richer...... the laws are written for these Crooks.

[watoos]

34. Want to know something else?

Just wait until the Trumpers who have been getting more money in their paychecks because of less deductions, get a lot less on their tax returns. Those Trumpers expecting a big return are going to be in for a big surprise and that one will be hard to blame on the Democrats.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

36. Only little people pay taxes - Leona Helmsly

[red dog 1]

37. K&R

Too bad The New York Times can't get hold of Shitler's "confidential financial documents"

I'd love to see those!

[BHDem53]

38. Lock it up!

[Racerdog1]

40. Bastard is dirty as they come

Pencil neck asshole learned from his fucking felonious piece of shit father.

[iluvtennis]

41. Just like Don the Con - Kushner stole money from the federal gov't by not paying taxes.

Cheat, lie, steal that's all these Trumpians know how to do.

[KWR65]

42. I must admit that I haven't paid any federal income taxes either.

But I have filed and received a refund on my EIC for social security taxes.