Douglas N. Brower: Trump probably didn’t make out on his tax losses
I won a couple of rental homes. Most years they provide a modest addition to my retirement income. Occasionally I get a tenant who just stops paying or has several large repairs. In those years I lose money. The only band-aid on the wound is that if I lose $1,000 this year I get to carry forward that loss to offset $1,000 in income next year.
Big whoopie! I lose $1,000 out of pocket and next year get a tax break worth maybe $100. Anyone who thinks that’s a good deal is brain dead. That seems to be what happened to Donald Trump in 1995, except his business is a million times bigger than mine. As a result of losing about $1 billion, in later years he probably got tax breaks worth maybe $200 million. Let me repeat, anyone who thinks that is a good deal is brain dead.
Unbelievably, The Bee used this ridiculous issue in its daily effort to slime Trump. You know he gets audited by the IRS every year. An objective observer would admire a citizen who follows the law exactly and pays every penny of taxes owed. My fellow citizens, don’t let the lies fool you and vote!
Douglas N. Brower, Ballico
This story was originally published October 18, 2016 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Douglas N. Brower: Trump probably didn’t make out on his tax losses."