The tax returns thing is only a tradition started by Gerald Ford as a gimmick to show he was uber honest. Releasing tax returns has no basis in law - it is not required and none of our business. The law only requires financial info to be filed because that will go into a trust account for the president.
Really the only thing I’m concerned with is the amount/% that a person gives to bonafide charities.
It’s generally a pretty good indication of a individuals underlying character.
DONALD TRUMP - None of Your Business - 2016
The man is a genius.
“Releasing tax returns has no basis in law - it is not required “
The fun part is the reason WHY. When the republic began, there were no income taxes AT ALL. Nobody had to file anything with the government about their life.
How did we fund the government? Tariffs of course! This election is a blast!
That was the greatest answer I ever heard in my life.
Had Mitt delivered it, instead of cowering to Harry Reid, he might be running for his reelection.
Tell me how many Hillary supports that aren't political payoffs.
Someone says something, they expect some wimpy little republican to shiver under his desk, and he comes out with F U people, it's MY business, don't like it, tuff....
ROFLMAO...GO.TRUMP.GO!!!
I agree, “None of their business.” We all know he is rich, he owns lots of companies, even has a 757. Big deal. Happy for his success.
And to further make the point, the “tradition” of releasing tax returns was to ensure that no so-called public servant was making money as result of their selfless “service” to us peons. This was pointed out to me by someone who knows such things better than I do.
Since Trump has never derived his income as a gov’t employee, but does derive his income as a private citizen, releasing these returns serves one purpose only:
To provide fodder for his political enemies, and a roadmap for his business competitors.
I do not believe a candidate who is spending millions of his own dollars on a campaign, will take a salary of $ 1.00 per yr (and probably make his rich friends do the same, btw), is also required to bankrupt the family business that his kids will inherit, just to satisfy the political jackals.
Enough is enough.
I agree.
It’s especially no ones business when the candidate is a business person, not really a politician. Business returns are way more complicated and may disclose insight into business entities and the public isn’t entitled to view.
This is funny. If Trump does it by following tax law, he’ll be an absolute HERO if he pays next to no taxes!
Tax History Project -- Presidential Tax Returns
Gerald Ford did not release his returns, but he did release summary data about his federal taxes for the years between 1966 and 1975.
Summary of federal taxes at: www.ford.utexas.edu/library...taxes.htm
Not busting your chops, just a FWIW, and comparison of what was released.
I agree with Trump. Voters have no right to see his tax return.
It’s listed no place in the constitution and no place in federal law that I know of.
If I were Trump, I’d channel every dime I have into the business and take practically no salary at all. Everything else would be a business related expense.
That is the correct answer. Trump said he is audited often. I assume that he is paying whatever he legally has to pay and it is none of my business what that is.
I'm waiting for him to say he'll release his returns right after Shrillary releases her 30,000+ "deleted" emails &/or transcripts of her Wall St speeches - the contents of which are far more relevant to a campaign.
BTW, anyone remember how when they checked back in '08, Biden & his wife had a history of giving a few hundred dollars a year to charity (on income in the vicinity of $200k), but in the year before the election he suddenly got the impulse to be generous & donated a lot more?!
Once past the headline...The above explanation is certainly not the equivalent of "None of your business".
The stuff that should be required should be what every new hire must provide to an employer; i.e., proof of citizenship (birth certificate), if a college or high school graduate, transcripts, etc. There are probably more but I haven’t applied for a job in over 40 years so I forget. Oh, a drug test!
Taxes should not be public ... PERIOD! If there is a conviction because of tax fraud, then publish the conviction, but this is NOT the business of the country to know what is on his tax forms ... hell, even the IRS can’t read tax forms, they should make sense to us? Publish a financial statement and tell them to Eff-OFF.
If Trump refuses to show his tax returns, the Dems will do to Trump what they did to Mitt Romney. With Romney, they just got friendly media to start rumors that he didn’t pay his taxes then Harry Reid, with no proof, stated on the Senate floor that Romney didn’t pay taxes and, before long, the lie had been cemented.
Trump’s not the only person who can spread worthless lies in the media.