It’s harder to parse Trump’s statement that he is audited more frequently than normal, because he didn’t say whether he is audited as an individual or a company.
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On the one hand, The Washington Post consulted Steven Goldburd, a tax attorney, who agreed with Trump’s approach, encouraging readers to “Think of an audit as an investigation, an on-going investigation”, before stressing “Any person that has legal counsel, their legal counsel will say, ‘If you’re under investigation, you should not be talking to the media, you should not be talking to anyone other than your legal counsel or through your legal counsel.'” And, in case his message wasn’t clear enough, if he were Trump’s attorney, Goldburd “probably would not allow him to release anything”.
Mr. Trump has built his campaign around his business success and his claim of a $10 billion fortune.
But on Thursday night’s debate stage, he provided the most explicit reason yet: He’s being audited.
This time, Mr. Romney is playing the role of antagonist, warning of a “bombshell” in Mr. Trump’s tax returns and urging him to release them. It could effectively translate into crowd-sourcing his audit as reporters, tax lawyers and accountants plunged in and raised issues the IRS might have overlooked.
“Nothing prevents individuals from sharing their own tax information”, IRS spokesman Anthony Burke said in an e-mail. The IRSs normal statute of limitations for an audit is three years though that time frame is extended in instances of substantial underreporting and there is no time limit on reviews in the event of fraud.
Given the complex matrix of partnerships and business structures disclosed on Trump’s filings with the Federal Election Commission, the scope of information available through Trump’s personal tax returns is hard to predict. But the nature of Trump’s charitable endeavors, his effective tax rate and the underlying profitability of his business operations would all likely loom large. I have rich friends who never get audited.
Trump hit back at Romney, saying the criticism was irrelevant since “you don’t learn anything from a tax return”. “Politics and religion do not factor into this”. I will absolutely give my return, but I’m being audited now for two or three years, so I can’t do it until the audit is finished, obviously. “The audit process is handled by career, non-partisan civil servants, and we have processes in place to safeguard the exam process”. They argue that if any information is modified, it could alter the numbers or lead to other changes in previous tax returns.
The Internal Revenue Service and tax experts, though, say he can.
A dozen years, a dozen deep dives into Trump’s taxes. “He should not be releasing anything”. “He’s a mess. The guy’s a total mess”, added Trump on Friday afternoon.
There are perils for Mr. Trump in releasing his returns now. Donald will face constant scrutiny by critics until his returns are released.
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Tax experts say that explanation has them scratching their heads because an audit would not prohibit the documents’ release.
