By Sam Brunson
The New York Times reported tonight that in 1995, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump may have claimed a $916 loss, a loss substantial enough that it could have allowed him to avoid paying taxes for nearly two decades.
The push notification for the story showed up on my phone at 8:30 pm Central time on a Saturday, so I haven’t had time to really dig into it. I’m sure that, over the next few days, we’ll have something more substantive to say. But in the meantime, a couple thoughts:
- The story of how the Times got these returns is a pretty crazy story in and of itself. A Times reporter received an envelope postmarked from New York, with a return address at Trump Tower.
- Mr. Trump refused to confirm or deny the $916 million loss. Also, not surprisingly, his attorney threatened to sue, arguing (frivolously?) that the publication of his returns is illegal since Trump hasn’t authorized their disclosure.
- The Times never received a federal return. Rather, the anonymous envelope had the first page of a New York, a Connecticut, and a New Jersey return. So, while they provide a certain amount of information, even if they are authentic (and it looks like they are), they provide a limited amount of information.
Anyway, this is huge news, and I’m sure we’ll have more to say about it going forward.
The Surly Subgroup 
Possible that only state tax returns were delivered because IRC Section 7213 prohibits the delivery of unauthorised federal return information but not state tax info? Raising the possibility that the “leaker” is somewhat sophisticated?
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