Patton: More Evidence Trump Didn't Pay Federal Income Taxes

"Billionaire businessman Donald Trump appears to have paid zero, or near-zero, in personal income taxes in at least two more years in the early 1990s, according to records from New Jersey's gambling authorities reviewed by POLITICO.

"According to the documents from the New Jersey Division of Gaming Control and the Casino Control Commission, Trump had struck deals with creditors to stay afloat, and the size of his business losses were so significant that they would offset any taxes that Trump (listed by his initials "DJT") would owe on the forgiven debts." (Shane Goldmacher, POLITICO, 6/17/2016).

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This revelation closely follows in time a previous finding that Trump paid no taxes in 1978 and 1979. "Donald Trump paid no federal income taxes for at least two years in the late 1970s, according to a New Jersey government report. Trump, who has declined to release his tax returns during the campaign season, incurred no tax liability in 1978 and 1979, New Jersey gambling regulators found, when they looked into his tax returns and personal finances in connection with the Trump Plaza Corporation's application for a casino license." (Chris Good, ABC News, 5/20/2016).

Several points might be made here. There is nothing illegal in using business losses to offset taxes. But, it does call into question Trump's claim of financial wizardry if he is constantly claiming losses. Also, the discovery that Trump paid no federal taxes during these four years by no means indicates that this is the end of the story. Trump has stonewalled any attempt to see his income tax returns, so investigators have been working to this point in time with partial information they discovered on their own. Further research may reveal more years in which Trump paid no taxes.

Before Trump ran for president, he supported the idea of presidential candidates releasing their returns. "In 2012, the New York developer faulted then GOP nominee Mitt Romney for not releasing his returns soon enough. If he were running, Trump told an interviewer, he would gladly make his tax returns public. 'I actually think that it's a great thing.'" (Boston Globe editorial, 8/5/2016).

Now that he is a candidate, Trump has flip-flopped and adamantly refuses to make his income tax returns known to the public. By his refusal,. Trump breaks a tradition dating back to 1976 in which all nominees for the nation's highest office have released their tax returns.

Trump has offered a variety of excuses for keeping his returns private. First, he claimed that he could not do so because he is under audit. However, "President Richard Nixon (who resigned the presidency under threat of impeachment) released his returns while under audit. Nothing, including an audit, 'prevents individuals from sharing their own tax information,' an IRS spokesman said." (Drew Harwell, Washington Post, 5/20/2016.

Deprived of the audit argument, Trump next claimed that "nothing was to be learned from them." (Francine McKenna, Market Watch, 5/11/2016). Wrong. An abundance of information of importance to the public appears on tax returns.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, author of a proposed bill requiring presidential candidates to release their returns, noted "Tax returns deliver honest answers to key questions from the American public," he said. "Do you even pay taxes? Do you give to charity? Are you abusing tax loopholes at the expense of middle-class families? Are you keeping your money offshore? People have a right to know." (New York Times, 5/25/2016).

The New York Times in an editorial echoed Wyden's sentiments. "The interest in Mr. Trump's case is particularly high. He is running for the White House as a business wizard, but is he really as rich and talented as he boasts? Is he as philanthropic as he claims with his reputed billions? Has he truly no conflicts of interest in Russia, whose computer hackers he has bizarrely invited to spy on Hillary Clinton, his campaign rival?" (New York Times, 8/1/2016).

After Trump's audit argument was rejected, his chief campaign strategist, Paul Manafort, came up with an even more unlikely explanation. "Manafort said that he does not think the presumptive Republican nominee will release his tax returns, in part because they would likely be too complicated for the public to understand." (Tom LoBianco, CNN, 5/26/2016). No doubt, given the importance of the issue, a legion of certified public accountants would be ready, willing, and able to explain Trump's tax circumstances to us presumed financial dimwits.

Finally, having been unsuccessful in defending his decision not to release his taxes, Trump simply stonewalled, "It's none of your business. " ( John Santucci & Veronica Stracqualursi, ABC News, 5/13/2016.)

And that's where the matter now stands. However, the issue is of too much importance to simply disappear and so it keeps re-surfacing..

Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, summarized the matter. "It is disqualifying for a modern-day presidential nominee to refuse to release tax returns to the voters, especially one who has not been subject to public scrutiny in either military or public service," Romney said in a statement. "There is only one logical explanation for Mr. Trump's refusal to release his returns: there is a bombshell in them." he added. "Given Mr. Trump's equanimity with other flaws in his history, we can only assume it's a bombshell of unusual size." ( Victoria McGrane, Boston Globe, 5/11/2016).

Gary Patton is the author of two books, Selling Mt. Washington, a political satire, and Outtastatahs: Newcomers' Adventures in New Hampshire, a work of regional humor.