re: #197 Birth Control Works

Well, his taxes are complex —so much so that most people won’t take the time to understand them and his people can easily spin any truth they want about them. But knowing what he lives on —and thus how he lives, might give a better picture to the voting public of how truly out of touch he is with the electorate.

Everyone who submits a 1040 to the IRS knows what gross income is. They know what their W-2 says and how much taxes are withheld. They know how much a standard deduction is, and many will know what itemized deductions can include. They can see what charitable deductions can do to the tax burden.

So, it doesn’t matter that Trump’s got tons of shell companies, close corporations, LLCs and other entities in his name where his net worth is locked up in real estate getting preferential tax treatment.

At the end of the day, they can see how much money he made, how much was donated, and whether his income reflects his claims of net worth.

In fact, accountants, tax attorneys, and most everyone else can figure these out from the basic 1040 document without the associated schedules. Including the schedules would give a more complete picture. And that’s one reason Trump is loathe to release it - it would show he’s got a house of cards of leveraged real estate holdings and a trickle of trademark income plus some book royalties. It’s hardly the income that one would associate with a billionaire. He puts on appearances, which is something that many Trump observers note is symbolic of the egotistical and vanity Trump has in spades.