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My takeaways on the latest explosive @nytimes story on the Trumps’ taxes, with a quick summary by tweet. 1/ nytimes.com/2019/05/09/opi…
(1) Trump is a terrible businessman. Despite inheriting more than $400 million and being bailed out by his father at critical junctures, he managed to lose (or at least claim tax losses) of more than $1 billion over a decade. That’s quite a feat! 2/ 
(2) We do a terrible job of taxing the wealthy. The 400 richest Americans often pay tax at lower rates than the middle class because so much income from wealth is taxed at low or zero rates. (h/t @genebsperling) 3/
On average, income from inheritances is taxed at less than one-quarter the rate on income from working. 4/
At the same time, due to Congressional pressure, the IRS audits taxpayers claiming the EITC—whose average income is less than $20,000—at rates higher than those earning twenty times as much. 5/ propublica.org/article/earned…
(3) Americans have a right to know whether the President has violated the tax law and whether the IRS has adequately policed any such violations. That’s why Congress should examine his returns and the courts should enforce their right to do so. 6/ americanprogress.org/issues/economy…
There is ample reason to fear that the President has violated tax laws. Previous @nytimes reporting concluded his father’s estate—of which he was the executor—engaged in tax evasion and outright fraud, failing to pay about $500 million in estate taxes. 7/ nytimes.com/interactive/20…
Michael Cohen effectively suggested during his congressional testimony that Mr. Trump engaged in tax fraud and insurance fraud. 8/ forbes.com/sites/danalexa… marketwatch.com/story/cohen-re…
.@SethHanlon documents numerous other instances where the President has taken sketchy or unlawful tax positions, including re: sales taxes and his foundation. 9/ americanprogress.org/issues/economy…
The President claims all his relevant returns are/have been audited. But even if true, the IRS is so under-resourced that it may miss violations of the law, or worse, when it audits high-wealth individuals. His father’s estate is a case in point. 10/ propublica.org/article/how-th…
(4) Americans also have a right to know whether the President has acted on conflicts of interest. That’s another reason why Congress should examine his returns and the courts should enforce their right to do so. 11/
There is ample reason to fear that conflicts of interest have infected Trump’s approach to tax policy. Many aspects of the 2017 tax bill seemed designed to lower taxes on him and his family through special carve-outs for real estate. 12/ nytimes.com/2017/12/05/bus…
There is the 20% deduction for pass-through business income (Trump owns at least 500 pass-throughs). While the bill placed limits on wealthy taxpayers claiming the deduction, there was a special carve-out for real estate. 13/ washingtonpost.com/business/econo…
There is the provision repealing like-kind exchanges for all property except… real estate. 14/ marketwatch.com/story/the-new-…
There is the (good) new limit on deducting interest payments, which applies to all industries except… real estate, which can opt out. 15/ bswllc.com/resources-arti…
There is the new windfall for real estate developers in the form of Opportunity Zones, which according to the President, Ivanka Trump pushed very hard for. One of the beneficiaries? His son-in-law, Jared Kushner. 16/ bloomberg.com/news/features/…
Compared to all other living Presidents, the concern about conflicts of interest is uniquely heightened for Trump because he is the only one not to divest his business assets or put them in a blind trust. 17/ washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2…
For all these reasons, Treasury should respond to the Ways & Means Committee’s lawful request to examine the past 6 years of Trump’s personal and business tax returns and, if they do not, the courts should enforce their right to do so. 18/18 nytimes.com/2019/05/07/opi…
