Maybe Trump Did Cheat

originally posted by: Bone75

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: LesMisanthrope

I suppose he could hire accountants to double-check his accountants, but that seems like overkill.

So, he just signs stuff without understanding it? He's not brilliant?

Well it's not like he was voting for a healthcare reform bill that would effect the whole country...

And luckily, it never will be anything like that.

im pretty sure phage sold his account to correct the record, he was never this sloppy or biased before. he didnt even seem interested in politics.

originally posted by: tigertatzen

What kind of business owner doesn't read over the tax documents and make sure everything is legit before they sign off on it?

The kind that owns (as an example) more than 50 companies or businesses who doesn't have the time to realistically pour over tax documents since he's running the companies/businesses. You're thinking small time business owner, and that doesn't apply so well to owners with multiple businesses.

a reply to: Phage

I can't seem to find the SEC report showing Trump received $583k compensation in 1995. I don't doubt he did, but the link in the linked article doesn't contain that.

originally posted by: snarfbot
im pretty sure phage sold his account to correct the record, he was never this sloppy or biased before. he didnt even seem interested in politics.

He's always been transparent.

His favorite thing is being right.

Of all the possible ways Trump could have cheated with the information available he took the most logistical non-reach perspective I've seen.

And even if he's 'wrong' he's only guilty of a suspicious number, being agreeably suspicious but misleading.

a reply to: Vector99

www.sec.gov...

a reply to: Nucleardoom

No, I'm actually not thinking of small business owners. I understand the excuse; he's a busy guy, very important, etc. However, his accounting firm only prepares the documents. He still signs them, and makes time to do so. Even with fifty businesses, it only takes a few minutes to check the numbers. And he would damn sure know something was wrong with a salary figure under $7k. Just skimming the figures would show him that something wasn't right.

If people want to use the crutch of wealthy business owners being too busy to look at their own tax info, and instead just blindly sign anything their underlings shove under their noses, then they need to accept that our country does not need someone like that in charge of running it. It would be a smarter move to simply give the Hillary defense and say it was all just an oopsie, he didn't mean to, he's regretful, etc. Saying he's too busy to be bothered with reading things before he puts his signature on them does absolutely nothing for engendering trust in him with the highest office in the nation.

a reply to: tigertatzen

It should be noted that tax preparers use the documentation provided to them by their clients.

That's where that "voluntary" part about income tax comes from. Paying is not voluntary, the information provided is. Providing inaccurate information can be fraudulent.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: Edumakated

You can have very little income but still have a lot of assets. His lifestyle may or may not have taken a hit during bad years. No way to know.

A 1995 SEC filing specifies that Trump received a salary of $583,333. The tax return says he received $6,108 dollars.

I'm sure the IRS is on it with their audit though if he claimed too little in income.

Maybe, maybe not. The IRS can be a pain in the ass but they are not omniscient.

a reply to: Phage

Business people get a 'bonus' every year, how 'often' and how much is tied to pride/performance.

Trump is egotistical. He takes large bonuses even in years of loss, that are easily livable income.

I can't see how it would state $6,108, with a $5 million dollar bonus included into that. Could he have owed back taxes every year ?

a reply to: Phage

So he would have ostensibly been the one to supply the salary figure for the preparers. I'm sure that could be pawned off on someone else, an assistant or whatever, since he's such a busy guy, but ultimately it's on him either way.

If he trusted someone else to gather the info for the accountant instead of doing it himself and that person made a mistake...and then he further signed off on that mistake without bothering to look at it first, that doesn't show very good judgement at all on his part. If he himself gathered the info, then that obviously points to deliberate fraudulent activity which is definitely not going to help him. Either way, he looks irresponsible at the very least.

originally posted by: LesMisanthrope
a reply to: Phage

That Trump cheated. I suppose he could hire accountants to double-check his accountants, but that seems like overkill.

I take it you're unfamiliar with the function of an independent auditor?

originally posted by: Swills
a reply to: Phage

By now, with all the heat of the recent NYT article Trump STILL is not releasing his taxes one month before the election is all the proof I need that Trump is hiding something and clearly he does not want the world looking into his taxes to figure it out. Even Crooked Hillary has long released her tax returns.

Even in 2014, he was saying he'd release his tax returns if he ran for President.

ETA: Here's the full interview and that clip is from the 1:27 mark.

a reply to: Phage

Thanks! If that is a true copy of his tax return then yea, it seems Donny forgot a couple zeros. I did notice in the article it stated it's possible he wasn't paid until the next year, and that some executives do that to delay their tax payment. If that is the case would that require a new SEC filing?

Holy #, Phage made a thread?

It must be really, really, dire, important or critical information regarding policy, geopolitics or how us plebs view reality and the human experience as a whole.

Never mind. Looks like he's just going for the low hanging fruit.

originally posted by: Vector99
a reply to: Phage

Thanks! If that is a true copy of his tax return then yea, it seems Donny forgot a couple zeros. I did notice in the article it stated it's possible he wasn't paid until the next year, and that some executives do that to delay their tax payment. If that is the case would that require a new SEC filing?

Well, I mentioned this with the bonuses.

You see, showing your tax returns with a salary is easy, because it's the same all year.

Bonuses are negotiated, and so it's harder to solidify them to an amount. They also make up a much larger portion of income for high-end business people, as his salary is 10x less than his average annual bonuses.

Anyway, these normally come around Christmas or New Year just before the Taxes are released, or right after. Bonuses, are by design, to help heavily taxed individuals get through this part of the year.

Trump could be using some kind of thinking to rationalize not releasing his Taxes, until the majority supplement of his income this year is made, to avoid looking fraudulent, by some strange extrapolated logic.

a reply to: imjack

He didn't get a bonus in '95

originally posted by: tigertatzen
a reply to: Nucleardoom

Even with fifty businesses, it only takes a few minutes to check the numbers.

Really? If your skimming through them maybe (and that's a big maybe), but a thorough check of the numbers would realistically take far longer than a few minutes.

a reply to: Nucleardoom

Why would it take longer than a few minutes? The documents are already prepared, and there is an accountant there going over everything with the client...they'll already have everything ready for review.

It's pretty simple to look at the salary line, right? Not too much reading involved, just check the numbers before you scrawl your signature. And if you know you paid yourself hundreds of thousands of dollars from those particular businesses, seeing a $6-7k salary on that line would kind of stand out, wouldn't you think? Especially to someone who is so busily involved with personally running all of those businesses himself, right?

Either he deliberately falsified tax documents, or he failed to pay attention to what was going on around him and just signed whatever was handed to him without bothering to check. The first makes him a fraud and a cheat. The second makes him irresponsible and lackadaisical. Either way, he could clear it up quite easily by simply being honest and forthcoming.

originally posted by: Phage
a reply to: LesMisanthrope

I guess that puts into dispute Trump's claim of brilliance, but also any other wild allegations.

What other wild allegations?



BTW, whose signature is on the returns?

Well it would be Trump's, but the accountant is likely liable

a reply to: violet

Is trump not also? after all he has to sign it doesn't he?.