Why Presidents Release Their Tax Returns [note – this is a commentary on why Presidential candidates release their respective taxes – a significant factual tutorial on this issue that includes discussion of Trump’s past financial ties and foreign connections.] – “Rachel Maddow talks about the precedent for why presidents have released their tax returns and the types of questions tax returns hope to answer about Donald Trump’s business relationships.” Partial return – 2 pages, Donald Trump, for his 2005 federal government filing. The documents were given to Maddow by David Cay Johnston.

• David Cay Johnston – “In 2005, Donald J. Trump married model Melanija Knavs, his third wife. That year, the real-estate mogul and newly minted TV star earned $153 million dollars, about $3 million a week. That’s far more than all but a tiny sliver of the U.S. population. The newlyweds paid $36.6 million of that year’s take in federal income taxes, a rate of 24%, putting the Trumps in much the same tax league as any other two-earner professional couple making about $400,000 a year. Or to put it another way, Donald Trump was paid that year like a member of the 0.001%, but he paid taxes like the 99%. And by at least one measure, he paid like the bottom 50%. DCReport has obtained Donald Trump’s Form 1040 federal tax return for 2005. There’s no smoking gun there, no obvious evasion, but clearly some bending of the tax laws almost to the breaking point. The document offers a rare glimpse at how a super wealthy couple can manipulate and manage our complex tax laws to reduce their obligations far below rates paid by typical salaried professionals or even blue-collar wage earners…”
• The White House Just Released Some Details On Trump’s Tax Returns From 2005 – “Trump paid $38 million in taxes on an income of $150 million in 2005, the White House said Tuesday, minutes before MSNBC show host Rachel Maddow was set to reveal his tax returns.”
• Money – Donald Trump Says He Paid $38 Million in Federal Income Taxes in 2005
• The New York Times – Trump Paid Tax Rate of 25% in 2005, After Huge Write-Offs
• The Washington Pose – Trump paid $38 million in income taxes in 2005, return shows – “The future president also reported a $105 million write-down, according to a tax document released on MSNBC. The Post could not independently verify the return, but a White House statement indicated that it is authentic, and said Trump paid “no more tax than legally required.”