Here's Why Trump Won't Be Releasing His Tax Returns

Even if they were ever released, we're under no illusion that whatever nasty details might be lurking in neo- fascist con artist Donald "Rump" Trump's tax returns will make a difference to the struggling Stormtrumpers for whom he can do no wrong.  (It's not about tax returns to them;  it's about racial and ethnic grievance.)  It's certain, however, that Rump will not release his returns because, as expert tax avoider Willard "Mittens" Romney posited, they contain "bombshells."

For those who might care about the extent of Rump's sleazy dishonesty, stories like this might start to add up (our emphasis throughout):

Bob McIntyre of the liberal group Citizens for Tax Justice suspects Trump’s tax returns, if made public, would undermine the political image the candidate has crafted of a brilliant businessman with what his campaign has called “tremendous cash flow.”

Trump may be worried that “he’d show very little income on his tax returns compared to his wealth claims,” McIntyre said, adding that Trump’s returns could also show that he “writes off everything he has in his life — the hairdo, the plane — as business expenses.”

What evidence might support this?  We have to go back to Rump's 1981 application for a casino license:

Trump had submitted his 1978 and 1979 returns to the regulators as part of an application for a casino license. State records summarizing the returns show that Trump claimed that his combined income during those two years was negative $3.8 million, allowing him to pay no taxes. A few years earlier, he had told the New York Times he was worth more than $200 million. 

Tax analysts say it is possible that Trump pays very low income taxes, or no taxes at all, using tactics available to wealthy investors and developers, such as depreciating the value of real estate.

How does this work in practice?  Here's one example of how Rump uses tax breaks that shift local tax burdens to the average person while simultaneously inflating the value of his assets:

In Ossining, N.Y., home to a Trump National Golf Club, town officials say that a tax break being sought by the company would cost their coffers more than $200,000 a year.

In seeking the reduction, Trump’s lawyers have claimed that the club is worth far less than the roughly $15 million value assessed by the city.

Trump’s lawyers have filed papers with the state claiming that the “full market value” of the property is $1.4 million. The same golf course appears on Trump’s new financial disclosure form released this week as part of his presidential campaign — valued by him at more than $50 million.

Those are quite a few discrepancies - Rump's "full market value" of $1.4 million vs. $15 million assessed value vs. $50 million value claimed by Rump on disclosure forms!  All we can say is that it must be a pretty lame golf club to be worth only $1.4 million (maybe it's something like this)!

This goes to the heart of the legend Rump has been creating for himself as a shrewd businessman who at the same time empathizes with the burdens of the little guy who struggles in an unfair system.  In truth, Rump's a con artist who lies about his many business failures, his wealth, and his "concern" for the struggles of average Americans.  As we said, none of this is likely to sway his adoring Stormtrumper legions =cough= racists =cough= nativists =cough=.  But for the broader population, hopefully this will add another pixel to the portrait of a man completely unsuited to be President of the United States.