Donald Trump's Tax Tricks

Camala Bailey, CPA, CVA, at Camala C. Bailey, CPA, PC, discusses Donald Trump's tax history.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

“People wonder when they listen to the debates and the controversy over Mr. Trump not releasing his taxes, which I find interesting. But really, if he hasn’t paid taxes for a while, it does mean that he has actually spent a lot of money and deducted a lot of things that are allowed to be deductible. And that’s created what is known as a net operating loss. So he’s probably lost a lot of money that is allowing him to not have to pay taxes as he goes forward in the future.

“Whether or not it’s all above board, I don’t know, but that’s the reason. He says he’s following the laws. The laws are there, I can vouch for that, and that’s how he’s ended up not having to pay taxes for quite some time, according to him.

“He probably owns a lot of buildings that he’s able to deduct depreciation on that creates losses. That’s how I think it has worked. And then also if he has invested a lot into a real estate or a venture that didn’t make it—in other words, didn’t come to fruition and make money for him—that is allowed to be deductible and you can take that loss. That’s probably what’s created his net operating losses which carry forward and offset future income.”