If Donald Trump really doesn't pay federal income tax...

[Vylo]

It would kind of blow a hole in his claim that taxes on the rich are too high. 0% seems pretty low to me.

 

[civilwarbuff]

It would kind of blow a hole in his claim that taxes on the rich are too high. 0% seems pretty low to me.

Under tax law if losses exceed income it could be 0%........how much in taxes would you owe on 0% income? I don't blame the person taking legal advantage of the system I blame the government who set the system up......

 

[Robban]

Would that impress you? Would you think it was smart? Should we all emulate him?

Depends on what taxdollars are used for,
If they are used to squander in the middle east to no avail, (trillions)
Then every American should ask themselves how they want the future of their country to look like.

 

[Job8]

What if it wasn't legal? Would that change your outlook on him not paying taxes?

Trump would have been in trouble long ago if he was illegally minimizing taxes. But the focus should not be on Trump and his taxes but the Clinton Crime Foundation and their abuse of position and power. It is interesting to see how the Democrats and Hillary's supporters manage to fool the public day in and day out and deflect attention from the things that should be thoroughly investigated.

BTW the governments of most countries are defrauding their citizens by how tax dollars are spent, so that is another area which should be looked at closely. Running up a debt of trillions of dollars is a crime since it puts a nation at great risk, but has not been declared as such.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Get back to us when Trump actually doesn't pay income taxes. This new campaign of slander doesn't speak well for Hillary or any of her devotees.

To be perfectly honest, I'm not comfortable with this line of attack, either. AFAIK, it's based off a handful of returns that he submitted to the NJ gaming commission in, I think, the late 80's and early 90's, which showed no taxable income for those years.

Did anyone here cal them free loaders or is this just an attempted derail?

The subject of the thread is the attitudes of people towards Trump's not paying income tax (assuming those allegations are true). We know that a large segment of the population is not subject to federal income tax because they're too poor - that segment has been the subject of a fair amount of scorn and disdain on this board over the years. I made my point to compare the attitudes towards two classes of folks who (allegedly) don't pay these taxes.

As to whether or not anyone in this thread has made that claim, I'd have to do some digging. But it's come up in this forum several times.

 

[jardiniere]

(snip)But the focus should not be on Trump and his taxes(snip)

Please leave that for another thread. I'm really interested in the beliefs of people about whether or not we should emulate someone who doesn't pay taxes and calls that smart. Not paying taxes because you had a business loss in one year is not "smart", it's just what you do. Trump did call Hillary's hypothetical claim of maybe not paying taxes "smart".

Is it? I'm asking, regardless of whether or not Trump paid taxes.

 

[grasping the after wind]

Please leave that for another thread. I'm really interested in the beliefs of people about whether or not we should emulate someone who doesn't pay taxes and calls that smart. Not paying taxes because you had a business loss in one year is not "smart", it's just what you do. Trump did call Hillary's hypothetical claim of maybe not paying taxes "smart".

Is it? I'm asking, regardless of whether or not Trump paid taxes.

I've already answered the gist of the question but on the "smart" thing. I would imagine Trump is suggesting that knowing all the tax laws and how they legally can be applied or being wise enough to hire those that do know them is "smart". I believe his point would be that an executive should be a good steward of a company's or country's assets. If one is not smart enough to either know the law intimately or hire those that do and let them handle the situation, one will be squandering the company's or country's assets or giving them away for no good reason. So, for instance if one were to , without provable "intent ", break a law one would probably be showing a lack of being smart and such a show of lack of wisdom would make the person in question seem a poor choice for an executive position.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

Profits from business, if reinvested back into the business, become business expenses and thus are deductible and taxes are greatly reduced or eliminated altogether. Business 'losses' from large capital investments can be 'carried forward' to provide tax relief for years as well. All businesses do this, and it is not only smart, it's necessary.

Personal income can be fashioned in such a way to be taxed at the lowest rate i.e. capital gains @ 15 percent. That's what Romney did and was criticized for. Trump's companies are always in the growth mode thus corporate profits can be sheltered from taxation through reinvestment.

Profits reinvested to avoid taxation always benefit the economy as they generate employment and income in the private sector. So rather than give the profits to a government welfare program the money is used to provide employment and build one's business.

These are not tax "loopholes". The tax code was fashioned so that businesses could use profits to grow and provide yet more employment, thus supporting employment and relieving the government of the burden of supporting the unemployed.

If there is a loophole it's allowing businesses to outsource production to other countries and not paying a penalty when those goods are returned and sold here.

 

[hislegacy]

Would that impress you? Would you think it was smart? Should we all emulate him?

Do you pay any Federal Taxes? The bottom 47% of citizens don't.

 

[Albion]

Please leave that for another thread. I'm really interested in the beliefs of people about whether or not we should emulate someone who doesn't pay taxes and calls that smart. .

If you have such a person, produce him or her, and we'll offer an opinion. There's no point in talking hypothetically about this.

 

[Albion]

The subject of the thread is the attitudes of people towards Trump's not paying income tax (assuming those allegations are true).

No, it isn't. The subject of the thread is to plant the idea that it's true and generally known to be true..

I might just as well ask what the attitudes of people are towards Hillary Clinton's arranging to have her ex-lover Vince Foster murdered (assuming those allegations are true).

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

Would that impress you? Would you think it was smart? Should we all emulate him?

Is there a single reader of this thread who is going to step forward and say "I want to pay more taxes than I am legally required to?"

 

[ViaCrucis]

What would make you or us think he doesn't pay federal income taxes?

"That makes me smart"


-CryptoLutheran

 

[Catherineanne]

Would that impress you? Would you think it was smart? Should we all emulate him?

Current UK campaign:

http://www.christiansontheleft.org.uk/patriotspaytax_splash?splash=1

 

[Catherineanne]

Is there a single reader of this thread who is going to step forward and say "I want to pay more taxes than I am legally required to?"

Yes, why not?

If I had more than I needed and others had less than they needed to survive, then I would indeed pay more.

Patriots pay tax.

 

[Catherineanne]

Get back to us when Trump actually doesn't pay income taxes. This new campaign of slander doesn't speak well for Hillary or any of her devotees.

The onus is on Mr Trump on this one. If he pays income tax then it is easy enough for him to prove it.

If he doesn't, with all his purported riches, then he is beneath contempt.

Patriots pay tax.

 

[SoldierOfTheKing]

Yes, why not?

If I had more than I needed and others had less than they needed to survive, then I would indeed pay more.

Patriots pay tax.

I'm not speaking hypothetically here. Do you intentionally pay more taxes than you are legally obligated to pay, or do you try to minimize the taxes you pay?

 

[Catherineanne]

You mean because Hillary Clinton suggested it without any evidence.

Do you think she would have said it if she did not already know the answer?

It is easily disproved; where is the evidence?

 

[Catherineanne]

I'm not speaking hypothetically here. Do you intentionally pay more taxes than you are legally obligated to pay, or do you try to minimize the taxes you pay?

I do not try to minimise the tax I pay. I declare every penny of my income because dishonesty is unChristian and I pay whatever I am asked to pay.

Mindful that others are far worse off than I am, I also give a considerable amount more in charity donations. HMRC does not take donations and it would be difficult to pay more than they ask for, but other organisations do.

People who pay less than they ought to pay are stealing from the very poorest and most vulnerable members of society. Such behaviour is, as already noted, beneath contempt. It is not clever or smart; it is not 'business'; it is theft from schoolchildren, from people in hospital, from elderly people in need of care. It is totally despicable.

Patriotic people pay tax.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

The onus is on Mr Trump on this one. If he pays income tax then it is easy enough for him to prove it.

If he doesn't, with all his purported riches, then he is beneath contempt.

Patriots pay tax.

If Trump receives a personal income he pays taxes although his various businesses might not. I'm guessing that like Romney and others he realizes personal income by taking capital gain income, and thus paying the lowest rate. All legal and moral as well.