October 14, 2018

It's not illegal, but it sure as hell is un-American.

The New York Times reports that Crown Prince Jared, despite being worth over 300 million dollars and a multi-million dollar annual salary, has paid no federal income taxes for years.

[F]or several years running, Mr. Kushner — President Trump’s son-in-law and a senior White House adviser — appears to have paid almost no federal income taxes, according to confidential financial documents reviewed by The New York Times.

His low tax bills are the result of a common tax-minimizing maneuver that, year after year, generated millions of dollars in losses for Mr. Kushner, according to the documents. But the losses were only on paper — Mr. Kushner and his company did not appear to actually lose any money. The losses were driven by depreciation, a tax benefit that lets real estate investors deduct a portion of the cost of their buildings from their taxable income every year.

Make no mistake, it's a totally legal maneuver, sadly. And Kushner is not the only one who does it (I'm 100% sure that Trump has done it for decades, if only he would release his taxes to confirm it). Trump, on the campaign trail promised to simplify the tax code to eliminate these dodges, but in truth, they've only made them more entrenched, though I doubt any one of his MAGA supporters have figured out that they, "the heartland" of the US, are basically subsidizing the uber-wealthy.

They are the true "takers," not immigrants or social safety net recipients. The uber-wealthy, with their tax dodges and ridiculous tax exemptions (private plane exemption, anyone?), manipulate these low info voters into punching down so that they can live the high life.

And ridiculously, it looks like Kushner was even greedy enough to get a $4,000 refund one year.

Kushner's father was sentenced to prison for his extensive tax avoidance schemes, among other illegalities. Let's hope Jared has the same fate as his dad.

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