Thursday, December 22, 2022
PMT: Trump's taxes
The release of some of former president Donald Trump's tax returns show a lot of things that are pretty predictable.
First, in the first and last years of his presidency, he paid little to nothing in taxes. If you are outraged at that, prepare to be outraged at the whole taxation system-- it isn't unusual for wealthy individuals and companies to find ways to avoid paying taxes. That's wrong, and someday real reform might change that.
Second, it turns out that maybe Trump isn't all that great at business. His highest-yielding income source is one that he has no role in managing, as described by the Washington Post:
The reports also showed that Mr. Trump continued to collect large sums of interest income, a total of $38.1 million during his presidency. They do not disclose the source of that income, but the tax returns previously obtained by The Times showed that through 2017 nearly all of his interest income came from his share of profits earned by a partnership that is controlled by Vornado Realty Trust.
The partnership owns two valuable office towers: 1290 Sixth Avenue in Manhattan; and 555 California Street in San Francisco. Mr. Trump, who has a 30 percent share in the partnership, has no authority over its management, and it has consistently been his strongest-performing asset.
