Contrary to the false impression in The New York Times story, Donald Trump did not avoid taxes.
He pre-paid them.
In 2016 and 2017, he requested and got an extension to file his returns.
As required, he made an estimated tax payment of $1 million in 2016 and $4.2 million in 2017. Then, it turned out that he did not owe that much in taxes, but, rather than demand the money back, he let the IRS keep it and apply it to any future tax he owed.
So — when he only paid $750 in taxes for the first two years of his presidency it was because he had already overpaid during the two previous years and just reduced his payment by that amount.
Over the longer term, Trump overpaid his taxes by $72 million.
Because some of that overpayment was more than two years earlier, he was not allowed to offset it against current taxes. But Obama changed the law to allow taxpayers to go further back and he offset his tax liability in future years by citing his overpayment.
So Donald Trump did not avoid paying taxes, he prepaid them.
So what’s wrong with that?
Many taxpayers overpay or have more withheld from their paychecks than they end up owing in taxes. They look forward to a deserved refund each year.
Many taxpayers overpay or have more withheld from their paychecks than they end up owing in taxes. They look forward to a deserved refund each year.
Some even use the process as a way of saving money.
All that Trump did differently, was to leave the money at the IRS and take the refund over several years. A government strapped for cash should reward such conduct, not vilify it. full story
This is an easy thing to spot for people who pay quarterly taxes. You pay throughout the year and then when it comes tax day, ideally, you have already paid most of what you owe and have a small check (or no check) to write. If someone claimed that the amount you paid on tax day was ALL that you paid, it would be ignorance on their part or even an outright lie attempted to smear you – as in the case of what the media together with Democrats are trying to do to Trump again.
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