Donald Trump claims that he cannot release his tax returns because he is under an IRS audit. He also claimed that Warren Buffet took huge tax deductions just as he has done. Warren Buffet released data on his tax return to dispute Trump's false claims and to make another point about taxation.
Buffet's tax return is under an IRS audit but he released his return just as Trump would be able to do. Buffet's adjusted gross income was $11.563 million and his tax rate was around 16%. His tax rate is lower than his secretary's tax rate and Buffet believes that this is unfair. Buffet also gave $2.85 billion to charities. Only a fraction of his donation to charity is tax deductible under IRS law which limits charitable donation deductions. Trump claims that he donates to charities but he has offered no data to prove his claim. Trump does have a foundation that bears his name to which he no longer makes contributions. His foundation has been closed down by 41 State Attorney Generals because it does not satisfy the legal requirements for a tax exempt foundation. Trump also defended tax deductions of close to $1 billion that he claimed in 1995 that can be carried forward for 15 years to reduce his taxes by claiming the Warren Buffet does the same thing. Buffet's tax return does not include similar loss carry forward deductions from his income. Moreover, Buffet stated that he has never used loss carry forwards to reduce his taxable income.
Trump assumed that he could lie about Buffet's taxes because his returns are not publically available. Buffet released his tax return to provide just another example of Trump's dishonesty.
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