US President Donald Trump didn’t pay any federal income tax for the years 2011 to 2014 but just paid $750 for 2016. The recent claim from the New York Times reports says President Trump paid federal income tax under tax laws in effect during the presidency of Barack Obama. Point to be noted that President Trump paid no federal income taxes for 10 of the 15 years before he was elected. Most millionaires and billionaires pay very little or no taxes in a complex tax system of rules and regulations under laws passed by Democrats and Republicans and enacted during administrations of both parties. A tax policy expert said the ultra-rich know how to play the game. The co-founder of the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, Eugene Steuerle said, “They have a lot of options for playing the tax code”.
Steuerle added, “The president may have been very aggressive in his use of them. Some things he might not, with a detailed audit, get away with, but I’m guessing a lot of other people do get away with, such as the extent to which you can effectively write off personal expenses as a business deduction. For the president, whether it’s his haircuts or trips to the golf courses”. President Trump also got benefits from the tax laws in effect during the presidency of George W. Bush. The publication also reported that Trump paid no federal income taxes for 10 of the 15 years from 2000 to 2015. A lawyer for the Trump Organization, Alan Garten disputed the report and claim from The New York Times.
It is noteworthy that President Trump is the sole owner of The Trump Organization. It is a conglomerate of at least 500 companies in the Trump family empire that started in the 1920s by the president’s grandmother and father. The real estate developers fall into a category all their own, enjoying exemptions and other tax code provisions on capital gains that allow them to avoid paying federal income taxes. Steuerle said, “While owners of corporations do often pay corporate income tax, large real estate owners have long been close to exempt from both corporate and individual taxation. Capital gains are only taxed when a property is sold, and, if the property is held until death, no tax is ever owed on those gains”.