Hillary Clinton
Related: About this forumNot So Boring: Behind Bernie's Massive Mortgage Deduction (HRC GROUP)
Last edited Mon Apr 18, 2016, 03:38 PM - Edit history (1)
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/main/2016/4/18/bernies-massive-mortgage-deductionThis person breaks it down:
He was being modest at best.
According to the tax returns Bernie Sanders released on Friday - which are his and his wife's returns from 2014 (not 2015, as he promised) - from an income of over $205,000, Sen. and Mrs. Sanders paid roughly $27,000 in federal income taxes. That's a roughly 13% federal income tax rate, about a full point below Mitt Romney's tax rate of 14% that everyone went crazy over.
But the Sanders made a lot less than Mitt Romney! Sure, but for a progressive who pines for people to pay more taxes, Sen. and Mrs. Sanders aren't shy about taking all the deductions they possibly can, just as Gov. and Mrs. Romney did to get their tax rates down to an abysmally low level. The average effective income tax rate for people in Bernie's tax bracket is a full 2-percentage point higher than what Bernie and Jane Sanders paid.
A more interesting observation is how Bernie and Jane Sanders lowered their tax rates so much, besides for being able to report a smaller wage income of roughly $156,000 even though Sen. Sanders' senate salary of $174,000 due to an array of excellent pre-tax putaways courtesy of the US taxpayer. Just a 2-point drop may not seem like much, but consider the fact that many at that income level are paying off student loans from not just college but also law school, medical school and other professional degrees. Neither Jane nor Bernie is paying student loans.
There are two primary breaks the Sanderses take advantage of: deductions for state and property taxes, and the home mortgage interest deduction. Bernie Sanders and his wife claim nearly $23,000 in mortgage interest deduction, and another $15,000 in property tax deductions.
http://static1.squarespace.com/static/530becede4b093256168fba5/t/5715022501dbaebb76cbce0b/1460994607629/?format=1000w
So what? You say. Everyone who can takes advantage of these! Here's the problem: Bernie's deductions are much, much higher than the average person - both for the home mortgage interest deduction as well as his property tax deduction. For example, the average home mortgage deduction claimed by filers in Vermont is about $8,500. Bernie and Jane Sanders claimed almost 3 times this amount.
To see why, look at the line above...
MORE...
George II
(67,782 posts)...would be released "when they're due". WHEN THEY'RE DUE, not after they're due, in a few weeks, etc.
They're due TODAY. Will they be released today? When they are due we'll see more about what those two items - mortgage interest and real estate tax - are all about. Jane also told Mitchell that they sold property at the beginning of last year.
Interesting.
Her Sister
(6,444 posts)Release the taxes!
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)for his mortgage deduction and property tax? What's the kerfluffle all about?
Her Sister
(6,444 posts)It'd be no big deal!
Lucinda
(31,170 posts)It implies multiple homes. If I understand what has been said...
SunSeeker
(51,646 posts)His claim that he is only worth $300k - or whatever the figure is today, it changes constantly - is surely wrong. He owns multiple properties in Vermont and apparently owns a property in DC. In the words, he's one of the millionaires he claims are destroying this country.
yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)His justification that he is one of the poorest senators is shameful and hypocritical. This is all on the public dole.
Have we seen what he spends on Senate-financed activities and staffing, what he expenses and charges to the campaign?
What he pays for thrifty trips to Europe including that charter plane menu?
We all know one year of taxes means so little. It's like picking one day off a monthly bank statement to tell us how much money you have!
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)Stand and Fight
(7,480 posts)You come in here to leave your comment for what reason? Do you expect people to be okay with it? I don't understand when Hillary people go into the Bernie Sanders group, and I don't understand why Bernie people come in here so often. It's not as if you're going to find anything in here that you like. I would speculate that perhaps you're coming in here to stir up trouble...
hedgehog
(36,286 posts)Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin
(108,136 posts)He had around a $150 charity deduction on his return. I make a fraction of what he does and I gave $100 to charity last year.
The Obamas made twice his salary and gave tens of thousands to charity last years.
LiberalFighter
(51,020 posts)But what is strange for the $8,000 is that it involves multiple amounts all under $250. And only one contribution over $250 for the amount of $350. Also strange is that it is a round number.
DesertFlower
(11,649 posts)misterhighwasted
(9,148 posts)Or was it given to Jane's Offshore Charitable Trust, set up to fund their family managed Caribbean camp for teens. Where, by the way, they learned skills like woodworking, which was taught by the Sanders daughter. She was then also paid for her time & justly so of course. But the whole thing just has a sort of "tax haven" feel to it.
"Oh, what a tangled web we weave...when first we practice to deceive."
Walter Scott, Marmion
Ahh, the lives of the 1%
misterhighwasted
(9,148 posts)I hear he's been phone banking for votes & $$ by invoking the Pope handshake. Now is that a campaign deduction?
Whoa..that is low
SunSeeker
(51,646 posts)8k is only 4% of Sanderss income.
misterhighwasted
(9,148 posts)considering it was on a papal handshake that the funds were raised.
Another question for the FEC, I guess.
Would that handshake then be considered a foreign donation, in a odd sort of way?
Hmmmm..
okasha
(11,573 posts)SunSeeker
(51,646 posts)My Mormon neighbors say they are required to tithe 10% of their income.
okasha
(11,573 posts)SunSeeker
(51,646 posts)okasha
(11,573 posts)but if there is one, it's probably a tenth. Almost all of Muslim religious law comes straight out of the Torah.
savalez
(3,517 posts)misterhighwasted
(9,148 posts)He doesn't give a shit.
Glad I wisely chose the Dem candidate.
UtahLib
(3,179 posts)Koinos
(2,792 posts)If he owns rental properties, he should have filed a Schedule E. If so, where is it?
Maybe he owns vacation homes in the Caribbean and in Denmark?
This doesn't look like full disclosure. That is a huge amount for itemized deductions, considering his income.
Her Sister
(6,444 posts)Spandan the author. Seems BS and JS did not provide everything exactly... and so on
Koinos
(2,792 posts)And Sanders expects to run a multi-trillion dollar economy? Will Jane be his secretary of the treasury?
misterhighwasted
(9,148 posts)The contribution to purchase a share in the St Lucia, Caribb, along with their real estate friend from VT.
The St Lucia boat resort. There's a few fine lines that would take awhile to trace. But if its funnelled through a Caribb Trust or something, then i guess its off limits to any US search.
Unless its in the missing tax papers.
What are they hiding?
SharonClark
(10,014 posts)He needs to release his tax returns for multiple years including the year Jane retired.
Her Sister
(6,444 posts)Wondering if we'll get more year releases. And what about TODAY!! Tax Day!!
Haveadream
(1,630 posts)These are the things that immediately struck me when he released his return. He is such a hypocrite! His investments allow him to take advantage of every conceivable deduction and most people in this country do not come close to his wealth or ability to do that. He does not want his returns to come out because they will shatter the illusion he has been so careful to craft. The fact that he hasn't been found guilty of outright fraud doesn't mean he is being honest about who he is or what he does with his money. If he is so committed to people in his income bracket giving more to the needy, why isn't he already doing it? I know people who make less and not only pay more in taxes but give more to charity. The taxes are a huge holier-than-thou narrative fail for me. I am so sick of being scolded by this less than average on the character scale fool.
SunSeeker
(51,646 posts)misterhighwasted
(9,148 posts)..of pillaging & scaming donors.
This is the kind of fraud that wold make burnie madoff look like an amature.
If the truth of his 2016 run is ever investigated.
Fla Dem
(23,724 posts)SunSeeker
(51,646 posts)I read somewhere that Sanders has rental property that he put in his wife's name.
On edit: This was the article:
In his 2012 Senate personal financial disclosures, Sanders reported having a joint rental property in Burlington valued at $100,001-$250,000, for which he received $5,001-$15,000 in income. Also in 2012, he reporting a 30-year mortgage of $50,001-$100,000 for a condo in Washington, D.C., dating from 2000.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/bernie-sanders-wife-accounts-for-reported-assets-120261#ixzz46Ec6j3St
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politicaljunkie41910
(3,335 posts)on the Form 2106-EZ. The $4473 of unreimbursed expenses is for Meals and Entertainment of which he is allowed to deduct 50% of his $8,946 unreimbursed expenses.
Let me first say that I am an Accountant by trade, and I am a former DoD Auditor so I know how the system works. I don't think any of these expenses are for Entertainment, I believe they are for meals. So what this says to me is that as a Congressman who chooses to commute to his job in Wash D.C. rather than relocate to his job, he can claim in addition to his Salary of $174,000 which is probably hitting that ceiling of the top 10% of the population, costs for his meals, too. Since I can't tell for certain, whether these $8,946 Unreimbursed Meals represent simultaneously ALL the meals claimed or just those Unreimbursed Meals since the law only allows you to claim 50% of your Unreimbursed meals. Or the Unreimbursed Meals amount may be due to, lets say if the Per Diem Rate for Meals and Incidentals in Washington DC is $46 per day for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, and You spend $100, the Government reimburses you for $46 and you have Unreimbursed meal expense of $54 which you can then tally up and then claim these costs as Unreimbursed Meals on your Tax Return, thus getting two bits at the Proverbial Apple.
I bring this up because my job does not pay for my meals when I come to work, nor do most people's jobs, so why should Congressmen get reimbursed for their meals. Also if I am offered a job that requires me to work in Wash DC, I don't get to claim Per Diem for the entire time I am there, only during the brief time I am in a Relocation/Travel Status.
Also, if you are only claiming reimbursement of your Meals and Incidentals during the time you're allowed Per Diem, you don't have to provide receipts for your meals as long as you aren't claiming any costs in excess of the Per Diem Allowance. So my guess is that Honest Bernie is Claiming reimbursement for his meals twice. Once for those meals that he is reimbursed, where his government job pays him in cash. And secondly, he is claiming on his taxes any unreimbursed meals as a tax expense which goes to reduce his taxable expenses.
Now either we should ALL be able to claim reimbursement for our meals when we come to work or NONE of us should be. This shouldn't be something only allowed to Congressmen. There was a time when members of Congress relocated to Wash DC from their home states with their families and lived in Wash DC. During that time, Congressmen and women from both sides of the aisle got to know one another much better because they were not commuters, but lived in the local area and socialized with one another outside of the office which made for a much better working relationship. Now that the Government pays for them to commute to their jobs, they work less, 3 days a week instead of 5 days a week, and they get paid to fly or take the train to come to work and they get to commute on Mondays and Fridays which makes for a much shorter work week, and Bernie Sanders was a member of Congress when all these rules changed.
Her Sister
(6,444 posts)What do you make of this: Tax Return Confirms Bernie Sanders Has Financial Stake in Nuclear Waste Dumping
http://www.thepeoplesview.net/main/2016/4/18/tax-return-confirms-sanders-financial-stake-in-toxic-nuclear-dump
http://static1.squarespace.com/static/530becede4b093256168fba5/t/57157f4bd210b8f8e176a616/1461026658874/?format=750w
But but! It's only $5,000. That's NOTHING!
Koinos
(2,792 posts)This financial interest explains why Sanders approved shipping nuclear waste from Vermont.
Why do I have the feeling that Sanders' releasing more tax returns would be devastating for his campaign?
livetohike
(22,157 posts)and 2014 is the year that looks the "best".
I don't trust either of them.
SunSeeker
(51,646 posts)In his 2012 Senate personal financial disclosures, Sanders reported having a joint rental property in Burlington valued at $100,001-$250,000, for which he received $5,001-$15,000 in income. Also in 2012, he reporting a 30-year mortgage of $50,001-$100,000 for a condo in Washington, D.C., dating from 2000.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2015/07/bernie-sanders-wife-accounts-for-reported-assets-120261#ixzz46Ec6j3St
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It would be interesting to compare his 2012 returns to 2014.