Is President Trump refusing to show his tax returns because he doesn't want to let on that he is not as rich as he claims to be?

He’s worried that he’ll go to federal prison. Hopefully, that’s where he ends up…

@MrGrimm888 How long do you think that he will serve in jail? My guess is less than two years and a slap on the wrist.

That’s a big part of it. His net worth is not that much because he is in debt to his eyeballs.

His returns would also show his debt is to the Russkies and the Saudis.

It would have Putin’s bank account number !

DUH ! ! !

Here is a tidbit to chew.
Showing tax returns is not a requirement. In fact, it was first done by Nixon, to prove he was not a crook.
Considering that outcome, I don’t know why anyone would trust the habit.
Trump has done several things to point out that politics have adapted stupid, or erroneous, or unnecessary practices which voters often expect because they don’t even know there is a choice.

He doesn’t even own the buildings with his name emblazoned on them. He simply leases his brand to those buildings (and over the last couple of years several have chosen to remove the Trump branding).

Who knows exactly why. There could be multiple reasons. When Romney told the public the percentage he paid in income tax (I was shocked he knew) he got ripped to shreds. Why would any politician want to give the press and opponents that ammunition?

@MrGrimm888 How does that work? Doesn’t the fed already have his tax returns?

Maybe he just doesn’t want anything extra out there for the MSM to twist. You know that if he released them, the media would cherry pick what they wanted so they could make him look as bad as possible. And he isn’t required to. Many people felt the same way about Obama’s college transcripts…why wouldn’t he show them? In some ways that is more pertinent than his tax returns….jobs often request education information when they are screening for interviews. But again…he was not required to. Could there be something in there that could be used against him? Possibly. But if he chooses to not release, that is his business.
@MrGrimm888 I think that is the silliest answer on this page. His tax return can and probably HAS been reviewed several times over. I’m about 100% sure he didn’t do his own taxes…he had an accounting firm do it for him. If there was something wrong on his tax returns it generally wouldn’t fall into jail time. Usually you get a notice from the IRS that you are going to be audited or that they found an error and that you own back taxes plus whatever interest they determine you owe on that amount. Federal Prison? That is silly.

He is probably just not as wealthy as he has made people believe he is.

@seawulf575 You are probably right. Trump doesn’t want to divulge his tax returns as they would make him look bad.

His tax returns over a few years probably won’t show his “wealth”. It’s not like you put all your holdings on your tax return. Tax returns are just income for that year.

@seawulf575 People can go to
prison for tax evasion.

@JLeslie Trump probably gets audited every year.

There is currently a case being built on Trump. Allegedly,when his father died he left Trump over $400 million. This was somehow hidden, and no taxes were paid for the inheritance. It is a matter of the state of New York. If/when Trump is charged, he will have no power to pardon himself.

The dems have floated a bill that would force Trump to show his tax records, and a bunch of other things that would hold Trump accountable for his actions. It’s obviously unlikely to pass with the GOP in the majority, but it is a great sign that Trump is being hunted down.

@seawulf575 . Of course Trump didn’t do his own taxes. That does not remove his responsibility for his records. Even if it’s rubber stamped, Trump’s signature is on all of his documents.

You make up countless excuses for Trump. Yet you chastise Obama, Hillary, Bill, and all brown immigrants constantly. You make a terrible job of pretending to be a unbiased, law abiding citizen. You are easily the biggest hypocrite in this pond…

To be clear, I do think Trump should show some tax returns, but at the same time I don’t think someone’s wealth should matter, or if they used the current tax laws to their benefit. I care more that they fix tax law to a more just system.

@ARE_you_kidding_me I didn’t think we were expecting 20 years of tax returns? How many years is the public asking for?

@MrGrimm888 The state and fed already have his tax returns. It doesn’t need to be shown to the public for the government to go after him. The government wants its money. Unless, you think he is paying off the auditors or something? Or, you think someone in the public will be able to report something to the government that the government missed once the public can review the returns and catch a problem on the return?

@seawulf I pay people to do mine and they will go to court to defend THEIR use of tax laws using my numbers. I certainly wouldnt hand mine over to voters as my personal finances shouldnt affect taxpayer funds at all, so its not their concern. Why should a President do that if its not required? His is probably worse to release as not many of us as experts in International business or law or tax codes.
Basically its really none of our business. IRS maybe, but not the GP looking for a sensational story.

I’m fairly certain he’s donated his paychecks to various causes like Walter Reed durinv his term. Doubtful he’s not rich, come on now.

@JLeslie Of course people can go to prison for tax evasion. But releasing his tax return wouldn’t show that. The IRS already has that information. But it would start nothing but a bunch of speculation about why he did this and didn’t claim it or why he did that and didn’t claim it. In the end, it comes back to how people would want to use the information. For tax fraud or tax evasion you would have to prove he had willful intent to avoid the taxes. That does not generally show up on a tax return. In the event that some investigation showed that he purposely tried hiding income or falsified documents to hide money, then the tax fraud/evasion could kick in.

Most wealthy people don’t have piles of gold in a Scrooge McDuck tower. Their value lies in loans, market value, and assets.

@MrGrimm888 You continue to hold to your weird liberal views. I speak from a realistic view point and you see it as defending Trump. I guess unless I start slamming him with no proof and only innuendo and conspiracy theory then I am defending him. As for chastising Obama, Hillary, and Bill, again…I state fact. I don’t go into innuendo unless that is the discussion. As for chastising brown immigrants, you are, as usual, full of malarkey. I have never chastised brown immigrants. I have spoken to what I see as the idiocy of trying to enter this country illegally when it can be done more safely legally. I have also spoken against illegal immigration but in each of those conversations you try making it about race and I hold true to the topic of illegal vs legal. I don’t care about race, I care about law. Again…you never want to actually debate that, you just want to try throwing the racism card around. You also try to avoid answering the question of why it is wrong to enforce our laws. It is your bias, not mine, that drives you crazy.

^You only care about enforcement of laws when it involves brown people. Not a stretch to conclude that race is the determining factor for you.

You claim to rely on facts, yet you won’t take your lists of “facts” to law enforcement. Not a stretch to conclude that you don’t believe your own “facts.”

Do you seriously lack the ability to see the obvious faults in your own arguments?

??? Okay…I’ll challenge you. You’ve now made a bold statement so I will demand your proof. When have I ever stated that I car about law enforcement when it involves brown people? I know you and I have had the discussion already of what if these people were from Canada or from Europe. My answer has been….they need to enter the country legally. Now…..I expect you to show proof that I have ever said we need to keep just brown people out of this country. Or you can apologize for being a fool.

@KNOWITALL “I’m fairly certain he’s donated his paychecks to various causes like Walter Reed durinv his term. ”

Doubtful, particularly considering his own charity foundation’s record of not paying monies promised.

“Doubtful he’s not rich, come on now.”

Rich? Sure. Does he have the kind of wealth that he lets on like he has? I doubt it. The man’s professional life has been a string of debt, bankruptcies, stiffing contractors, etc. The man’s a charlatan. A lot of talk, but with very little to back it up.

@Darth When I get on a laptop I’ll post links, they should be easy to find.

Many politicians are chalatans personally, Dems too. Nothing new there.

Doubtful means you are assuming, thats not an argument.

Yes, it’s an assumption. But you can often make fairly accurate assumptions about a person by considering their personal behavior and history.

I am still waiting for that turd to release these “shocking” revelations about Obama, that he was bragging about having some years ago.

What we do know is that Barbara Underwood, the Attorney General of New York State, has accused Trump’s charity foundation of illegally misusing its funds for private and political gain.

Ms Underwood said there had been “a shocking pattern of illegality involving the Trump Foundation – including unlawful co-ordination with the Trump presidential campaign, repeated and wilful self-dealing, and much more”.

She continued: “This amounted to the Trump Foundation functioning as little more than a chequebook to serve Mr Trump’s business and political interests.”

@flutherother Accusations arent proof. If its there, fine, throw the book at him.

@seawulf575 , Trump did not release his college transcripts either, despite making such a big deal about attending Wharton’s undergraduate program. We know he never made the honor roll. Obama’s grades were good enough to get him into Harvard Law School, where he became the first black president of Harvard Law Review.

@LostInParadise I don’t really care. It isn’t required to have a college degree or show your college transcripts or your tax returns to be POTUS. My original comment was that this question is sort of silly. To worry why Trump isn’t doing something he isn’t required to do when other presidents haven’t done things they aren’t required to do is sort of hypocritical. If it was required to show your tax returns to be POTUS and Trump refused, or college transcripts and Obama didn’t, I’d be saying they needed to show them…it’s part of getting the job. But it isn’t.

It is not a silly question. There was no law broken, but it is reasonable to speculate why Trump did not show his tax returns when nearly all other presidents do, and especially since he is always bragging about what a great businessman he is. Showing his tax return would give him a chance to back up what he says. It causes one to speculate as to just how much money he really has and to wonder if a good portion of it came from Russia.

You can speculate all day long. But in the end, the tax return won’t tell you how much money he really has nor where it came from, other than in general terms. It would tell you how much was from income, how much from stocks or bonds, how much from capital gains or losses, etc. It won’t tell you that company A paid him X amount for Y deal.

His tax returns will only show how much he made that year, not how much he had already. He doesn’t want to show his returns because he is a control freak.

@KNOWITALL The New York State Attorney General wouldn’t accuse any charity of wrongdoing without proof. Underwood’s office has been going over the financial dealings of the Trump Foundation for the past two years resulting in the Trump Foundation being closed down and its assets distributed under supervision. The case against Trump is ongoing so we will see what happens to him personally.

@seawulf575 . You have absolutely nothing to defend yourself with, until you constantly call for a wall on the Canadian border, and turn your lists of “crimes” into the authorities. Until then, YOU are the one who needs to show proof… End of discussion until you put your money where your mouth is. I am awaiting for investigations on the dems, and the wall on the northern border. Otherwise, you have quite clearly labeled YOURSELF a hypocrite…

@MrGrimm888 Thank you for that personal attack that is entirely off topic! I think I have a fan!

He is jealous you are better looking.

@seawulf575

Sorry, but you can’t call others hypocrites then whine when someone else calls you one.

@Darth_Algar Okay, you want to join in…the more the merrier! I extend the challenge to you as well. You want to support @MrGrimm888 in his foolishness, then you can answer the challenge I gave to him. When have I EVER said anything about illegal immigration that I couched in terms of race? Please…feel free. But I expect full disclosure. What question thread I was responding in and what, exactly, my comment was. You want to discuss the “wall between us and Canada”? Fine. @MrGrimm888 has thrown this one up as well, claiming I’m racist because I’m not screaming for a wall to Canada. The answer I gave has nothing to do with race. It has to do with relative risk. Millions more illegals come from the southern border than the northern one. That’s a fact. You have a HUGE problem coming from the south and basically nothing coming from the north. For economic as well as security reasons, a wall to the south is warranted and one on the north is not. Pretty simple. But @MrGrimm888 just can’t get past race.
What you folks on the left do and can’t quite understand why it is wrong, is you accuse someone of something. That accusation is not based on any fact. Then you use that accusation as a basis for drawing some other conclusion. So please, @Darth_Algar feel free to take the challenge or STFU since you are being a fool.

Nah, I’d rather watch you whine about personal attacks while you throw around plenty yourself. I learned before my summer/fall break from here that it’s an utter waste of time attempting to engage you in serious, productive discussion.

@seawulf You think its bad now, wait until he’s re-elected haha!

I wonder how many Americans would give up their tax return for the wall? That would be interesting to see.

He probably doesn’t want the public to find out that he is not a honest person and Not a person to hand a Presidential title to.

@seawulf575 . Cry away. There’s nothing personal about going after your credibility. Take your lists to the police, and start clamoring for a Canadian wall, or stop crying. Until you legitimize your “facts,” you have NOTHING. When I see Obama in cuffs, I will praise you. Otherwise, you are just spreading fake news.

You can stop lying about the number of immigrants too, as we have long ago established that the numbers are impossible to verify.

For someone who claims to follow facts, you have NONE.

Keep lying, and keep crying.