Many columnists have been hit with the problem that has me floored right now. I don’t think any other has handled it in this manner.
I think I know how to lift Donald Trump out of his ugliest sand trap. That’s my motive.
The problem is I have only the thinnest outline of my solution. My knowledge of the detail is limited to two words.
I have a close friend who knows exactly what I’m talking about. Why fake knowledge when I have a friend as knowledgeable as Hans F. Trupp?
During the first debate, Hillary lashed out at Trump for not paying income tax during certain years. Trump couldn’t resist the troublesome jape, “That makes me smart!” Hillary is using this infirmity to obvious advantage. Not paying taxes sounds horrible. And it is indeed horrible if it’s just a case of not paying taxes and hoping you’ll get away with it! There was no audible back-talk from the Trump camp or anybody else!
However, I remembered an old interview with a tax accountant. Here’s where my two words of knowledge come in: “municipal bonds.” If your income is derived from municipal bonds, that income is tax-free!
And why not? This is the government’s way of encouraging the purchase of tax-free bonds, so cities can have clean water, modern sewage systems, good roads and public transportation and parks. They call it “infrastructure.”
I refuse to believe that Donald Trump simply thought he could get away with not paying taxes, which is the way the Hillary camp is trying to make it look.
Of course, Sunday’s surfacing of papers indicating Trump lost sufficient millions of dollars to avoid payment of income tax for 18 years would explain Trump’s non-payment of such taxes, but let’s not let it end like this. Which do you believe, that Trump simply tried to stiff the government on his income tax, or that he availed himself of some kind of rare but legal method to avoid paying taxes during those years that got Hillary so excited? It would be easier to try to hide a bass fiddle in a phone booth than for Donald Trump to simply avoid paying his income tax.
So, having provided the hook, I called on my friend Hans Trupp to hang some meat on it. Hans waved goodbye to his native Brooklyn after his highly decorated service in Vietnam as a Navy pilot and built a real estate empire based in the Golden Isles of Georgia. I think Trupp knows more about tax law than Trump! Trupp. Welcome now to the expertise of Hans Trupp:
“I believe Mr. Trump was referring to the federal income tax regulations, which are so complicated and encompass over 73,000 pages and for most successful individuals and corporations require expensive tax advice to both legally comply with and take full advantage of the regulations as they are written.
“As a result of this, taxpayers attempt to pay the minimum required under the law and still comply with all provisions of the Federal Tax Code. This is commonly known as tax avoidance and is both smart and perfectly legal. The implication by the Clinton campaign is that Mr. Trump was involved in tax evasion, which would be both illegal and unpatriotic. I cannot imagine that this is the case.
“I would like to point out that all industries have special tax considerations which apply to them and can be used to shield or offset current income. Several of these provisions which would be available to someone in the real estate business are depreciation and a 1031 tax free exchange. These non-cash deductions would be recaptured at the time of a sale. I would also like to point out that 47 percent of all taxpayers in the U.S. pay zero federal income tax, and the top 1 percent pay 35 percent of all tax revenue. The top 10 percent pay 70 percent of all taxes. It is clear that the tax code has been used by politicians for social engineering and providing tax benefits to large donors. This is exactly what Mr. Trump is trying to change and point out to the voters.”
Thank you, Hans Trupp. What I lack in knowledge of tax law I make up in anger at those trying to damage their opponents by making perfectly legal tax law appear downright criminal. If Hillary would like to apologize and thank Hans Trupp for the education I will rejoice in her apology. Meanwhile, I accuse Hillary of knowing full well that Trump’s non-payment of taxes is thoroughly within the law.
Hillary asks, “If not paying taxes makes Trump smart, what does that make the rest of us?” The answer, Hillary, is “normal.” If an American’s business affairs are not as arcane as Mr. Trump’s, there’s no reason for him or her to be aware of all 73,000 pages of tax law. And if you’re a political opponent of Donald Trump, you bathe yourself in shame for trying to make his legal business strategies appear downright criminal.
Thank you for bringing this up, Hillary. You espouse free college tuition. Thanks to you, many Americans will now get a huge dosage of free tuition in American tax law.
And who better that Donald Trump to take the oath of office and fix it?
Media wishing to interview Barry Farber, please contact [email protected].
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