Trump's latest property-tax bill, out June 3, shows he once again received a middle-class tax break

[sinkspur]

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20160606/BLOGS02/160609931

Trump's latest property-tax bill, out June 3, shows he once again received a middle-class tax break

The self-proclaimed billionaire gets a tax break for New Yorkers whose incomes are $500,000 a year or less

Aaron Elstein By Aaron Elstein
June 6, 2016 

Donald Trump just keeps on getting a tax break for the middle class.

Donald Trump's New York City property-tax bill, published June 3, shows he once again received a tax break aimed at middle-class New Yorkers.

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s latest property-tax bill shows he was awarded a credit under the STAR program, or the New York State School Tax Relief Program. To be eligible for STAR, a married couple must have annual income of $500,000 or less. You wouldn’t think a guy as rich as Trump claims to be would qualify, but he has received the credit for several years and records filed over the weekend with the city’s Department of Finance show he received a $304 STAR tax break for his Trump Tower penthouse.

While the amount of the credit is trivial for a high-roller, the fact that Trump gets it calls into question his claims that he's "really rich" with a fortune worth in excess of $10 billion. Trump's tax bill comes to around $96,611 after receiving a condo abatement worth $20,493.

When Crain’s first reported on the STAR credit in March, Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski claimed that the city had made a mistake and a spokeswoman for the mayor’s office agreed an error had been made, though she wouldn’t explain how it happened.

The city’s finance department said it checks with New York state tax authorities every year to make sure applicants for the STAR benefit have income under $500,000. A state tax official confirmed that the state received a list of STAR recipients every year and notifies the city of who is eligible. (The state defines income for STAR purposes as federal adjusted gross income minus the taxable amount of total distributions from annuities or individual retirement accounts.)

To try to sort it out, Crain’s asked for copies of Trump’s STAR applications under the New York’s Freedom of Information Law. But after a two-month search, the city's finance department said that no documents could be found. So the mystery of the billionaire and the middle-class tax break continues.

Because Trump has refused to release his income tax returns, for now his property-tax bills are about the only available window into his finances that doesn’t come from him. It’s conceivable that Trump is in fact very wealthy, thanks to his property holdings and licensing agreements, and manages to lower his annual income to under $500,000 by taking advantage of loopholes in the tax code that give real estate professionals many ways to minimize income.

Such maneuvers may comply with tax law, but could be difficult to explain to many of his supporters. Or his fortune may simply be much smaller than he's claimed.

Neither the Trump campaign nor the city had any immediate comment.

https://www.scribd.com/doc/314958059/Trump-s-June-3-2016-tax-bill

[sinkspur]

Looks like Trump makes chump change in terms of cash flow, is up to his neck in personal and corporate debt, and isn't worth near what he says he is.

[Mechanicos]

FEC filings shows hes flush with money even your left wing sources remark on. This he needs money meme is a lie.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-business-booms-as-he-runs-for-president-financial-disclosures-show/2016/05/18/60adedb6-1d11-11e6-b6e0-c53b7ef63b45_story.html

[driftdiver]

FEC filings shows hes flush with money even your left wing sources remark on. This he needs money meme is a lie.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trumps-business-booms-as-he-runs-for-president-financial-disclosures-show/2016/05/18/60adedb6-1d11-11e6-b6e0-c53b7ef63b45_story.html

Then why is he seeking donations for his campaign.   http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-wont-self-fund-general-election-campaign-1462399502

Its not a bad thing for some one to need financial support to run for President.   However the source of those funds can be an issue.  Say if some of it comes from George Soros for example.

[driftdiver]

Looks like Trump makes chump change in terms of cash flow, is up to his neck in personal and corporate debt, and isn't worth near what he says he is.

He's highly leveraged.  I think thats the banking term.

[Mechanicos]

Then why is he seeking donations for his campaign.   http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-wont-self-fund-general-election-campaign-1462399502

Its not a bad thing for some one to need financial support to run for President.   However the source of those funds can be an issue.  Say if some of it comes from George Soros for example.

Because fact one: A primary is not a general election, He only promised to self fund the Primary. I.e. willing to drop 60 million not a billion of his own.
Fact 2 Hes it. If the GOP wants the Office of President they need him. So he has leverage. They have the ground systems, funds and infrastructure necessary for the general. So why not use them? Because he does not have hat in hand they are beholden to him both for the office and help raising funds for down ticket.
Fact 3 He promised the RNC he would fund raise.

[Mechanicos]

He's highly leveraged.  I think thats the banking term.

Cept its not true he is very low debt as the SEC filings show. If he was so leveraged his debt would be high, its not. I call this meme a lie.

[Oceander]

If it's a mistake it's a mistake.  I'm not sure this really matters in the greater picture. Trump is a sleaze ball no matter how much he earns. 

[jmyrlefuller]

So he's engaged in tax fraud, then?

Damage control failure.

[Oceander]

So he's engaged in tax fraud, then?

Damage control failure.

It would only be fraud if he took affirmative steps to hide the facts and make it look like he really deserved the exemption.  Even if he knowingly claimed it, if he didn't actively pretend to earn less than the limit he wouldn't be prosecuted for tax fraud so long as he went along with the audit changes. 

[HoustonSam]

So he's engaged in tax fraud, then?

Damage control failure.

I'll not conclude yet that he's engaged in tax fraud, but if he is as rich as he claims and gets this tax break he is at least aggressively minimizing his tax liability.  And he has publicly stated that he does that, to pay as little in taxes as possible.  OF course most people do that, it's not a sin in itself.

But to then turn around and argue that the American people should get "a better deal" on the Keystone pipeline by taking a share of the profits is at best disingenuous.  If he thinks the American people deserve "a better deal", he has complete power to give us one by loosening the reins on his own taxable income.  I say we all deserve "a better deal" on Trump's personal income and the income of his businesses.

[Mechanicos]

So he's engaged in tax fraud, then?

Damage control failure.

Far from it, If your tax attorney friend handles billionaires he can tell you that the super rich have the tax code written in their favor to avoid paying taxes like us peons. Trump has very good accountants and tax attorneys and decades of using every loophole/trick etc in the code to avoid paying. Its really hard to nail down what their income is. Same with wealth. Even experts looking at official forms  say they have no idea whats going on overall.

So no not fraud, but a good example why the Liberals tax the rich mantra is stupid.