Earlier this week, Rachel Maddow tweeted that she had Donald Trump’s tax returns.
BREAKING: We've got Trump tax returns. Tonight, 9pm ET. MSNBC.
(Seriously).
— Rachel Maddow MSNBC (@maddow) March 14, 2017
4 million viewers tuned in to watch. She spent the first 20 minutes of the show speaking very excitedly about why it was important to look at Trump’s tax returns, and what they could tell the American people about where his money came from, and with whom he was doing business. She alluded to a property that he bought and sold at a ridiculously high price to a Russian oligarch, and how tax returns might shed some light on who may or may not be pulling the president’s strings.
That’s where the “sense” ended. She then pulled out 2 pages – the 1040 – of Trump’s tax return from 2005. Only 2 pages. Showing he paid 24% in tax on over $100m in reported earnings, after taking a higher amount in depreciation. And, yeah, that’s still low for a billionaire, but two pages doesn’t really tell us much, and probably helped his supporters more, as they can now say that we’ve seen that he pays taxes. Well, not really, but, yeah.
Turns out the pages “showed up” in the mailbox of David Cay Johnston, a Pulitzer Prize winner and tax expert. Even he didn’t know where they came from. Did he check to see if they were real? Yes. He contacted the White House and they more or less confirmed they were real. He even admitted they may have come from Trump, himself. If you look at images of the tax returns, they are stamped “Client Copy,” which means they are Trump’s copy.
So, yeah, probably sent by Trump. Tax year probably selected by Trump. Probably Trump controlling the narrative.
Another perspective of what the tax returns tell us from Kevin Drum (Mother Jones)
Summary – Trump’s primary income comes from:
- Interest: $9 million
- Business: $42 million
- Capital gains: $32 million
- Rental: $67 million
- Miscellaneous: $2 million
- Total: $152 million
After a $103 million depreciation write off, his adjusted gross income comes to $49 million.
This makes his taxable income $31 million.
His tax bill for this was $5 million, or 3 percent.
However, this is where the Alternative Minimum Tax applies, and he actually had to pay $38 million in taxes (25%). That’s still low for a billionaire, who should be paying closer to 45%.
Guess what? Trump is planning to get rid of the Alternative Minimum Tax. Wonder why?
In 2005, Forbes estimated Trump’s net worth at $2.6 billion.
This means that in 2005, Trump earned 5.8% of his net worth. During the housing bubble. While that’s not bad for the average Joe, this is a man people have elected because they view him as a shrewd businessman. I have to say… not really impressed. My financial advisor earns me higher returns than Donald Trump. I mean, Trump earned $67 million in rental income, but took $103 million in depreciation. That just doesn’t sound like good business to me.
In other news, Trump basically “made up” the story about Obama wiretapping Trump Towers during the election because he read the word “wiretap” in the New York Times and because Fox’s Bret Baier mentioned the word “wiretap.” Ergo, “Obama – wiretap – Trump Towers.”
Yes, that’s essentially what he said. To Fox’s Tucker Carlson. Here you go:
ON Fox, Donald Trump cites Fox Anchor Bret Baier To Justify His Wiretapping Conspiracy