Not paying income tax for 18 years..How will the average tax payer respond?

[Stuart G]

How about that large group of undecided voters who pay taxes year after year after year.

How will they respond? What do you think?

Perhaps the undecided voters will be mad, perhaps...
Perhaps the undecided voters will look at Hillary's tax returns ..ooops ...she and Bill paid 3 million last year
Perhaps we thought he got away with not paying for a couple of years, you know...but.....................
................18 years not paying income tax?.........18 years??

Perhaps this is the very last thing that Republicans want the average tax payer to know.
.....that a super rich business man, can get away with legally not paying income taxes for 18 years....


What do you think????

[apcalc]

1. Will be interesting to see how it plays out...

IMO it has potential to set Trump off the rails emotionally.

[baldguy]

2. The people who think taxes are theft will be in awe of his smartness.

Of course, Trump looks on them as a bunch of dumbfucks.

[justiceischeap]

3. People within the Twittersphere don't see the big deal

From what I've seen, those that were talking seriously about it said it proves he *is* a smart businessman. It's not *his* fault that there was a loophole he could take advantage of.

[avebury]

4. The other side to that story -

How can Trump claim to be that great a businessman with that large a loss? You never hear of other rich people like Bill Gates, Mark Cuban, Michael Bloomberg reporting losses of that nature.

Some PAC could use that info to put out a really great political ad. It goes to his credibility. Combine the mega net loss with the deposition where he states that his net worth is what he thinks it is on any given day and paint him a delusiona man who is out of touch with reality. You will never change his base because they are just as bat shit crazy as he is but you need to keep hammering away on the point of how unhinged he is so that everyone else runs away from him. People need to know why it matters and how destructive the guy is to their best interests.

[beachbum bob]

5. teaparty types would cheer trump....

they hate taxes more than everything else no matter even if it means screwing american servicemen and women and their families and veteran care...


but those types are already trump zealots and their votes are not the the votes trump needs....so an effective political ad attacking trumps of mocking those of us who pay taxes as suckers in supporting our military would convince the voters he is unfit

[EL34x4]

6. Truth is, the people most concerned with Trump's taxes...

...Had no intentions of ever voting for him in the first place. Trump knows this. So do his supporters.

Some undecided voters might be pissed that he didn't pay taxes for 18 years. Others will wonder how he declared a nearly billion dollar loss. Some will be angry that his personal business was anonymously divulged. Many will not care one way or the other.

This will be a big nothingburger.

[UCmeNdc]

7. It proves Trump will lie about anything and everything

Just to get what he wants.

[Vinca]

8. The average tax payer with a brain will be upset.

The Trump-supporting tax payer will think it's wonderful. It won't compute that if he pays zero, they have to pay more to make up the difference.

[sinkingfeeling]

9. I get an IBM pension check and my Social Security check each month. I pay

income tax on all of my pension and on 85% of the SS.

I think the loopholes in tax law that allow for people to write off massive losses due to bankruptcy and bad business decisions should be eliminated as long as retirees have to pay.

[Orrex]

10. Depends what you mean by "undecided voters"

If you mean "people who intended all along to vote Republican but either didn't want to admit it or else wanted to seem edgy and important," then they'll support Trump all the more enthusiastically because this will prove that he's a business genius who knows how to work the system.

If you are instead referring to that statistically anomalous actual undecided voter, well, they probably won't be influenced by this news one way or the other, at least not to any great extent. They'll say something wishy-washy like "both candidates have made mistakes, and both have their faults," and they'll continue rooting for whoever they wanted in the first place.

[oberliner]

11. With a yawn?

I don't know that this is going to play with those voters.

For some reason, people seem to like Trump because he can get away with stuff like this.

My personal opinion is that the scales will be tipped for those undecided voters when they realize that Hillary Clinton actually has policy positions that will help them and Donald Trump has policy positions that will hurt them.

I wish we could get the media to focus on that instead of the other stuff.

The questions that the media should be asking:

What has each candidate said they will do when they become president and how will those actions affect the country?

[aikoaiko]

12. I would imagine that most people take every deduction they can document.

But the amount is so large and over multiple years that it could infuriate the average person.

[Stuart G]

13. I agree, a lot of average people will be mad.

"The amount is so large and over multiple years......" Most of us would not even think of doing something like this...

Trump not only thought of it, he succeeded in doing so..18 years on a business deal..borrowed money no doubt on the deal itself..and then a loss, and then..no taxes for ever.......

[MichMan]

14. Proves that the current tax code needs a total rewrite.

I think many Trump supporters would say that he was just following the tax code that was established by the political establishment and that is why it is important to elect an outsider.

[Stuart G]

15. but.............the Republicans will not change any part of the code that favors the wealthy...

Republicans have always wanted to lower taxes on the wealthy..not raise them..oh................


.............................Trump is a Republican.................isn't he?...........

[MichMan]

17. Both parties have been complicit

Since the Trump tax concern goes back 18 yrs, I would say both parties have been complicit. They all favor the wealthy

[book_worm]

16. His uneducated white supporters will say, "He's doing what I wish I could do" and

say it's "The American way to cheat on taxes."

[napkinz]

18. ...