by Ugh
Like the mythical MSM, I am all Trump all the time here at ObWiNews.
As I'm sure everyone's seen, the NYTimes was mailed a piece of one of Trump's state income tax returns, which in 1995 showed negative adjusted gross income of $915M for federal income tax purposes. This is quite an accomplishment even for a "highly -skilled businessman" (as described by his own campaign) such as Mr. Trump. Could this be legit?
Well yes, especially since according to reports his business empire was collapsing at the time, his skills notwithstanding. One question though is whether Trump actually suffered an economic loss of such magnitude, as opposed to paper losses or losses recognized for tax purposes that might not necessarily have resulted in a net decrease in Trump's wealth by that amount. The tax code is highly favorable to the real estate business, including the ability to defer gains through a like-kind exchange under section 1031, but at the same time to recognize losses by selling the real estate and then (I believe) buying it back a short time later (there is a "wash sale" rule for stocks that prevents someone from doing this in a short period of time).
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