Everyone piles on after Donald Trump confesses to tax fraud
Last night the New York Times reported that, according to Donald Trump’s tax returns from 1985 to 1994, he lost more than a billion dollars in one decade, as nearly every one of his businesses lost money in any given year. This means that either Trump committed tax fraud in those years by faking losses, or he’s the worst businessman in history. This morning Trump announced that it’s the former.
Donald Trump woke up this morning and found that #BillionDollarLoser was the top trending topic on Twitter. Lest anyone conclude that Trump really is the world’s most incompetent businessman, he posted a lengthy diatribe in which he essentially confessed to tax fraud:
“Real estate developers in the 1980’s & 1990’s, more than 30 years ago, were entitled to massive write offs and depreciation which would, if one was actively building, show losses and tax losses in almost all cases. Much was non monetary. Sometimes considered “tax shelter,” you would get it by building, or even buying. You always wanted to show losses for tax purposes….almost all real estate developers did – and often re-negotiate with banks, it was sport. Additionally, the very old information put out is a highly inaccurate Fake News hit job!”
If and when this becomes a legal matter, Donald Trump will eventually try to retroactively claim that his above tweet was merely describing legal loopholes that he used, thus essentially arguing that he committed “legal” tax fraud. But based on his track record of the past few years alone, we all know that Trump doesn’t do anything legally. He’s going to regret this tweet. For now, though, it’s clear that Trump would rather risk confessing to a crime, than be seen as a terrible businessman who’s broke.
