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

[Victoria33]

@mystery-ak

I used to own several rent houses.  I took the papers to a CPA every year, used the same one every time, my husband was a vice-president of a company and knew this CPA who did work with that company. One year, I took every sheet of data I thought he needed.  He questioned me about a certain item I took off and he said that wasn't right; I said it was.  He went back to a room of lawyers, came back out and said I was right.  It is not many times a CPA is wrong, but I knew what I did was correct.  So, one should keep informed of changes by the IRS in order to make your income tax form right.

[DB]

So you are telling us that if you had a portfolio like Jared's you wouldn't use every tool you could to pay as little taxes as you possibly could?

The issue is the highly connected get the tax laws bent to carve out niches protecting their wealth while the rest of us pay through the nose and have no leverage to change it.

[Chosen Daughter]

The issue is the highly connected get the tax laws bent to carve out niches protecting their wealth while the rest of us pay through the nose and have no leverage to change it.

Exactly.  That was my point also. 

[Victoria33]

This is why people call it fake news.  Every rental property owner is entitled to depreciation.  If real estate development is what you do for a living, a rental loss can offset your salary.  The tax is not evaded.  All of that depreciation is recaptured when the property is sold, unless you can do a 1031 exchange and defer it until the new property is sold.

@cato potatoe

I took the papers of rent houses I had, to a CPA to determine the depreciation.  Properties are not 100% as time goes by.  They are like us - they depreciate over time.

[RoosGirl]

The issue is the highly connected get the tax laws bent to carve out niches protecting their wealth while the rest of us pay through the nose and have no leverage to change it.

No, the issue of this article is to try to vilify a particular person for using legal means to pay the least taxes as possible, just like any normal sane person would do.   

[Sanguine]

No, the issue of this article is to try to vilify a particular person for using legal means to pay the least taxes as possible, just like any normal sane person would do.

Yes, indeed.

[edpc]

His father was found guilty of tax evasion in 2005, among a couple of other charges. This, however, does not seem to qualify.

[Chosen Daughter]

No, the issue of this article is to try to vilify a particular person for using legal means to pay the least taxes as possible, just like any normal sane person would do.

The article says he "likely" paid no taxes.  If he paid no taxes there is a real problem.  Everyone knows how wealthy Kushner is.  If government has created such loopholes that people with the Kushner wealth would pay no taxes people ought to be upset.  People ought to cry foul!

Of course that is if "likely" means true.  If "likely means they are stirring a public opinion piece with no real truth.  For the purpose of driving public opinion at the most opportune time for midterm elections.....

I absolutely have no doubt that the government churns on creating favorable laws for people who can afford to buy them.  Non partisan.

The Democratic party is represented by some of the wealthiest people, corporations and politicians.  I always cringe when liberals talk crony capitalism.

Still on the issue of fair taxing the government has screwed the American workers.

[cato potatoe]

@cato potatoe
I took the papers of rent houses I had, to a CPA to determine the depreciation.  Properties are not 100% as time goes by.  They are like us - they depreciate over time.

I'm not sure what kind of CPAs the NY Times hired on their search & destroy mission.  If Kushner did not deprecate his rental properties, he would still be required to recapture the depreciation he should have claimed as income upon sale of the property! 

These liberal media hacks are never going to understand what businessmen deal with.  They should stick to discussing latent racism, or some other BS.

[Applewood]

From the article, it appears that the Times isn't all that certain that Kushner did not pay any taxes.  Once again, it's making allegations with no real proof to confirm them.  I think much of our liberal media just wants to stir up more class envy.    It's one of the many things liberals are famous for.  The Dem campaign ads running here locally are full of references to Republican opponents' supposed wealth  -- hinting that the wealth was acquired illegally or somehow stolen from the rest of us.  Of course, they don't bother to mention how much money the Democrat candidate is pulling in and where that candidate got his or her wealth. For all I know, the Dem candidates might have evaded taxes or done something illegal to acquire their wealth.  Contrary to how Dems like to portray themselves as the average joe, they also are not like the rest of us shlubs.  Believe me, they have a lot of cash too.

There is nothing wrong with avoiding taxes -- using whatever legal means are out there to pay as little as possible.  It's just wrong if you are evading taxes -- by deliberately failing to report income, for example.  People apparently don't know that "avoiding" and "evading" are not the same thing.    As far as I'm concerned, if the IRS finds no impropriety in whatever Kushner has done to pay as little tax as possible, then I don't see a problem.