Last updated on July 17th, 2023 at 07:03 pm
New York property tax bills suggest that Trump’s big secret is that he is cheating the taxpayers out of millions of dollars by refusing to pay his fair share of income taxes.
Crain’s New York Business reported:
Donald Trump’s New York City property-tax bill, published June 3, shows he once again received a tax break aimed at middle-class New Yorkers.
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The presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s latest property-tax bill shows he was awarded a credit under the STAR program, or the New York State School Tax Relief Program. To be eligible for STAR, a married couple must have annual income of $500,000 or less. You wouldn’t think a guy as rich as Trump claims to be would qualify, but he has received the credit for several years and records filed over the weekend with the city’s Department of Finance show he received a $304 STAR tax break for his Trump Tower penthouse.
While the amount of the credit is trivial for a high-roller, the fact that Trump gets it calls into question his claims that he’s “really rich” with a fortune worth in excess of $10 billion. Trump’s tax bill comes to around $96,611 after receiving a condo abatement worth $20,493.
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Because Trump has refused to release his income tax returns, for now, his property-tax bills are about the only available window into his finances that doesn’t come from him. It’s conceivable that Trump is in fact very wealthy, thanks to his property holdings and licensing agreements, and manages to lower his annual income to under $500,000 by taking advantage of loopholes in the tax code that give real estate professionals many ways to minimize income.
There are only two ways that a billionaire could get a verified middle-class tax break. Trump is either a). not rich, or b). Taking advantage of loopholes in the tax code to avoid paying his fair share. Since the presumptive Republican nominee loves to boast about he intentionally tries to pay as little in taxes as possible, so the odds are that what Trump is hiding is that he dodges millions in income taxes every year.
The audit has nothing to do with why Trump won’t release his tax returns. The real reason is that Donald Trump is an example of what Democrats have spent eight years trying to change. Trump isn’t paying his fair share. Trump’s supporters are having to foot the bill because he is exploiting loopholes in the tax code.
Trump is cheating the American people, and the property tax rebate documents are proof that he is a freeloading one-percenter who refuses to pay his fair share.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
