Trump Tax Attorney: 'He Didn't Understand the Code'

[brooklynite]

Source: NBC News

An attorney who oversaw Donald Trump's income tax returns in the mid-1990s said the Republican presidential candidate had little interest in the tax code — contrasting with the billionaire's claim that he understood taxes "better than anyone" who had run for the White House.

"As far as I know, and that only goes through late '96, he didn't understand the code," said Jack Mitnick, a former tax adviser for Trump, in an interview with NBC's TODAY. "Nor would he have had the time and the patience to learn the provisions. That's a lifetime of experience."

Mitnick oversaw Trump's income tax returns in 1995, portions of which were published Saturday by the New York Times. The documents showed a reported loss of nearly $916 million — a deduction tax experts hired by the newspaper said was so large that Trump might have legally avoided paying federal income taxes for up to 18 years.

Trump responded to the report on Twitter: "I know our complex tax laws better than anyone who has ever run for president and am the only one who can fix them" — a stance he has repeated on the campaign trail.

Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/trump-tax-attorney-he-didn-t-understand-code-n660111

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Genius!

[rurallib]

1. surprise, surprise

Trump seems to have little more than a 5th grade intelligence. No surprise his claim that he is a wizard tax accountant is horse shit also.

[PearliePoo2]

2. Give it a break "genius ". You actually don't know shit about much of anything.

You don't read, you don't listen and you've got the attention span of a freakin' fruit fly. Oh yeah...and you're a mean, vindictive asshole.

[elmac]

3. When you have lots of daddies money

to spend on really smart people I guess that could make you LOOK smart. Thump is a legend in his own mind.

[underpants]

4. What's (in real world) surprising is that he ever made that claim

At that level of wealth he's not going to know the intricacies of tax code. That's what he pays his accounting firm to know. Most will review it and possibly have it explained to him but unless he is the staff accountant preparing it or the manager reviewing it he should have better things to do. Partners in large firms do sales - new accounts and account management.

[Warpy]

8. He's been able to bullshit people all his life

and that includes people who are generally hard to bullshit, like bankers and AGs. He really doesn't know anything else, but that ability has served him so well that he thinks he knows it all.

If the US electorate has a sudden attack of common sense and defeats this scammer, his days as a successful bullshitter will be largely over, thanks to the bright light he's been glorying in that shows all the flaws.

[Wash. state Desk Jet]

6. So one of those tax attorney's has something to say !

He knew enough to let them handle it and kept himself restrained enough to stop himself from going ballistic on them for all he understands not. It must have been hard for Trump keeping his restraint since he did not own them. Even Trump can't afford to have those tax lawyers do the dump Trump tango . Actually it is funny to imagine those tax attorney's doing the dump trump tango with Donald in the dark !

[Yonnie3]

7. t'Rump claims he avoided taxes by being smart.

He was smart enough to hire a good CPA who was also a lawyer, but that's all. I'll bet that CPA cost more than I earned some years. He did the ordinary thing people in his situation did and he's smart. Huh? Not really! Even the stupidest well to do people have an accountant who minimizes their taxes.

In the wastelands that his supporters call minds, he a genius (compared to them).

[lastlib]

20. In the kingdom of the blind,.......

...the one-eyed man is king.......

[Astraea]

9. He knew enough

to get out of paying taxes, didn't he?

[ailsagirl]

14. That's hardly praiseworthy

He's what you'd call a "deadbeat", AKA "parasite," "leech"

[Maeve]

18. He knows enough to hire an accountant smarter than he is

Which probably covers the majority of the field....

[murielm99]

10. Because we have some farm property,

we go to an accountant to get our taxes done. There are new laws and regulations almost every year. Our accountant makes sure we get our deductions, but also makes sure we pay. We don't need fines and penalties, especially in an area where the income is not often large, and can fluctuate from year to year.

This accountant is always attending seminars and looking up changes in the law. He is smart. But he does not have all the details about our complex tax code inside his head. I know, after sitting down with someone like our accountant year after year, that Trump does not understand the tax code. He is moron who relies on others while taking all the credit for himself and treating those people dismissively.

[Dustlawyer]

11. I believe that every return he everr filed has some fraud or illegal dodge in it.

That is another reason for not disclosing.

It amazes me that people who know he has stiffed contractors and workers, not paid taxes, refuses to provide those returns to prove he is as smart as he says he is, fails to give any policies to accomplish the things he says he will do, and makes outrageous misogynistic, racists, anti-gay, anti-military/veteran, statements on a daily basis, yet they still support him.

They want to blame the same people Trump goes after for their problems, so they don't really care that the jerk they support is in fact a jerk!

[Cicada]

12. Former Senator Bill Bradley said Trump started caring more about tax angles than how to run his busi

After a cool 900 million tax dodge Donald may have been motivated to learn more.

[ailsagirl]

13. How can you be a genius and not understand the code??

Give us a break!!!

[C Moon]

15. More lies from the Trump circus.

[Rex]

16. So he had a loss every year he was in business?

Don the Con's numbers don't add up.

[mwooldri]

17. So not only does he know more than the Generals on Islamic State group...

... he now knows more about the tax code than tax attorneys.

[Jeb Bartlet]

19. Yet again, Donald

doesn't know shit but brags he does. Plain old narcissistic personality disorder and compulsive liar. Fuck Trump.