Associated Press
Tax Day reveals a major split in how Joe Biden and Donald Trump would govern: The presidential candidates have conflicting ideas about how much to reveal about their own finances and the best ways to boost the economy through tax policy.
Biden, the sitting Democratic President, plans to release his income tax returns on Monday, the IRS filing deadline. And on Tuesday, he is scheduled to deliver a speech in Scranton, Pennsylvania, about why the wealthy should pay more in taxes to reduce the federal deficit and help fund programs for the poor and middle class.
Biden is proud to say that he was largely without money for much of his decades-long career in public service, unlike Trump, who inherited hundreds of millions of dollars from his father and used his billionaire status to launch a TV show and later a presidential campaign.
“For 36 years, I was listed as the poorest man in Congress,” Biden told donors in California in February. “Not a joke.”
In 2015, Trump declared as part of his candidacy, “I’m really rich.”
The Republican former President has argued that voters have no need to see his tax data and that past financial disclosures are more than sufficient. He maintains that keeping taxes low for the wealthy will supercharge investment and lead to more jobs, while tax hikes would crush an economy still recovering from inflation that hit a four-decade peak in 2022.
“Biden wants to give the IRS even more cash by proposing the largest tax hike on the American people in history when they are already being robbed by his record-high inflation crisis,” said Karoline Leavitt, Press Decretary for the Trump campaign.
The split goes beyond an ideological difference to a very real challenge for whoever triumphs in the November election. At the end of 2025, many of the tax cuts that Trump signed into law in 2017 will expire — setting up an avalanche of choices about how much people across the income spectrum should pay as the national debt is expected to climb to unprecedented levels.
Including interest costs, extending all the tax breaks could add another $3.8 trillion to the national debt through 2033, according to an analysis last year by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Biden would like to keep the majority of the tax breaks, based on his pledge that no one earning less than $400,000 will have to pay more. But he released a budget proposal this year with tax increases on the wealthy and corporations that would raise $4.9 trillion in revenues and trim forecasted deficits by $3.2 trillion over 10 years.
Still, he’s telling voters that he’s all for letting the Trump-era tax cuts lapse.
“Does anyone here think the tax code is fair? Raise your hand,” Biden said Tuesday at a speech in Washington’s Union Station to a crowd predisposed to dislike Trump’s broad tax cuts that helped many in the middle class but disproportionately favored wealthier households.
“It added more to the national debt than any presidential term in history,” Biden continued. “And it’s due to expire next year. And guess what? I hope to be President because it expires — it’s going to stay expired.”
Trump has called for higher tariffs on foreign-made goods, which are taxes that could hit consumers in the form of higher prices. But his campaign is committed to tax cuts while promising that a Trump presidency would reduce a national debt that has risen for decades, including during his Oval Office tenure.
“When President Trump is back in the White House, he will advocate for more tax cuts for all Americans and reinvigorate America’s energy industry to bring down inflation, lower the cost of living, and pay down our debt,” Leavitt said.
Most economists say Trump’s tax cuts could not generate enough growth to pay down the national debt. An analysis released Friday by Oxford Economics found that a “full-blown Trump” policy with tax cuts, higher tariffs and blocking immigration would slow growth and increase inflation.
Among Biden’s proposals is a “billionaire minimum income tax” that would apply a minimum rate of 25% on households with a net worth of at least $100 million.
The tax would directly target billionaires such as Trump, who refused to release his personal taxes as presidents have traditionally done. But six years of his tax returns were released in 2022 by Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee.
In 2018, Trump earned more than $24 million and paid about 4% of that in federal income taxes. The congressional panel also found that the IRS delayed legally mandated audits of Trump during his presidency, with the panel concluding the audit process was “dormant, at best.”
Biden has publicly released more than two decades of his tax returns. In 2022, he and his wife, Jill, made $579,514 and paid nearly 24% of that in federal income taxes, more than double the rate paid by Trump.
Trump has maintained that his tax records are complicated because of his use of various tax credits and past business losses, which in some cases have allowed him to avoid taxes. He also previously declined to release his tax returns under the claim that the IRS was auditing him for pre-presidential filings.
His finances recently received a boost from the stock market debut of Trump Media, which controls Trump’s preferred social media outlet, Truth Social. Share prices initially surged, adding billions of dollars to Trump’s net worth, but investors have since soured on the company and shares by Friday were down more than 50% from their peak.
The former President is also on the hook for $542 million due to legal judgments in a civil fraud case and penalties owed to the writer E. Jean Carroll because of statements made by Trump that damaged her reputation after she accused him of sexual assault.
In the civil fraud case, New York Judge Arthur Engoron looked at the financial records of the Trump Organization and concluded after looking at the inflated assets that “the frauds found here leap off the page and shock the conscience.”
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Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
37 comments
Earl Pitts "RON'S OFFICIAL "UNOFFICIAL VPOTUS CAMPAIGN MANAGER" American
April 15, 2024 at 7:55 am
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This, America, is an AP article and subject to a “Dangerous” mis-information content of 93.67%. Please supervise your childern (For God’s Sake) should they attempt to read an AP artical.
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And “Watch Yourselves” and dont slip into looking like a “Compleate Dufas” by a post which indicates you believe the AP Horse Hockey.
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Earl Pitts American
Dont Say FLA
April 16, 2024 at 3:41 pm
Pops are you up at the Gubbernor’s Double Wide for some play with Mrs Rhonda while the cat’s away?
rick whitaker
April 16, 2024 at 9:08 pm
pops is probably trying to find someway to suck his own wick. he’s a dirty perv, so who knows what billy purser is up to. or should i have said gary burbank. pops has a lot of fake names to keep up with. billy purser is his born name, but he may have changed it to gary burbank after that 60’s comedy show character. pops is weird. earl is just one of the names he thinks is funny. he’s so disillusioned and depressed, that i think he might be a candidate to take his own life. he’s got big issues.
Michael K
April 15, 2024 at 9:03 am
There are good reasons why every candidate for public office should release their tax returns – especially for those seeking the presidency.
All presidents since the late 1960s have released their tax forms – except Donald Trump. What is he hiding? To whom is he beholden? We have a right to know.
Impeach Biden
April 15, 2024 at 9:28 am
He is beholden to the IRS like you and I. Of course if the IRS doesn’t like his returns then he gets audited. Just like the rest of us.
Dont Say FLA
April 16, 2024 at 7:38 am
No need to see his tax return.
Just have a look at the PGA returns to his golf courses thanks to Saudi involvement with Jared and LIV.
He went to Jared!
Impeach Biden
April 15, 2024 at 9:06 am
So multi millionaire Biden is going to try and play like he is just an average guy like most of middle America. He has made millions being paid by taxpayers for his salary. He has had his hand out like most politicians and all of his family members are millionaires too. The funniest example is son Hunter, who sat on the board of Burisma, making huge money and not speaking a lick of the local language.
rick whitaker
April 16, 2024 at 9:13 pm
peachy, do you really believe those lies about biden? it’s hard to believe someone could be THAT misled. i don’t know why you repeat lies like that except to appear mean spirited and childish. if you have another legitimate reason, then why not tell us.
Chicklet D.
April 15, 2024 at 10:18 am
On paper, Biden is poor. But we know from Hunter’s laptop and brother Jim that millions and millions of foreign money flow into family bank accounts. So no normal person believes Biden about his ‘wealth’ as he sits on the beach in front of the house that is worth millions.
His tax scheme is even worse, tax the rich more, hah! The richest 5% pay 65% of the US taxes, the bottom 50% pay 2%. So the rich pay more, way more than their “fair” share. The tax code is a mess, fixing it isn’t easy, but adding more taxes is not the answer.
Impeach Biden
April 15, 2024 at 11:04 am
Preach on Chicklet.
rick whitaker
April 15, 2024 at 11:24 am
IM, a post with nothing but lies and you jumped on it with agreement. that says a lot about your mental ability to tell fact from fiction. you need to seriously consider this about yourself if you ever want to be taken seriously by smart truth believing people. then again, knowing you, you won’t do anything to better your mind. you’re stuck in the muck.
rick whitaker
April 15, 2024 at 11:05 am
CHICKLET, the pure purposeful lying in your post was amazing. how did you get so many lies packed into one post? i’d say you have plenty of experience in lying to be that good at it. bottom line, reverse everything you said and then it would be accurate. you don’t owe me anything for straightening you out. we need more sensible people instead of people that believe in gop lies. it’s all in the math. there are more workers than rich people, so all the workers have got to do is vote them out. but then the lying starts working on some people so they end up voting against themselves. i hate liars.
Impeach Biden
April 15, 2024 at 11:13 am
The smartest guy in rural Tennessee makes an appearance. He knows all.
Dont Say FLA
April 16, 2024 at 7:40 am
Irritable Bowel Syndrome guy makes an appearance and, having their typical nothing to say, spews liquid ad hominem
Impeach Biden
April 15, 2024 at 12:22 pm
it’s all in the math. there are more workers than rich people, so all the workers have got to do is vote them out.
Sounds like Tennessee Rick wants to turn the United States into Venezuela. You have lots to learn even at your age.
rick whitaker
April 15, 2024 at 3:19 pm
IM, if you got that from what i said, you’re hopeless. all you seem to do is do the what-a- bout bull and parroting lies you hear on right wing propaganda sites. iv’e got you pegged real well, so you can’t hoodoo me with your conflation and false equivalencies when you use those tools i just spoke of, it’s a sign of not having a viable opposing fact or opinion..
Dont Say FLA
April 16, 2024 at 7:42 am
The G0P wants to turn USA into Venezuela. It’s why they keep sending arms and ammo to Venezuela to wreak havoc that displaces Venezuelans to USA to be taken advantage of by the shady employers and sexual predators otherwise known as G0P voters.
John L
April 15, 2024 at 11:37 am
Lets see. I already lost Trump tax credit of 60 bucks savings a year and 95% of tax cut went to corporations who are making record profits by keeping prices high due to bogus supply chain issue.. So I will be just fine and pay for my own costco membership and screw the 2 trillion dollar corporate giveaway every decade.
rick whitaker
April 15, 2024 at 12:40 pm
IM, it’s not that i’m that smart, i’m not, it’s just compared to you i’m very smart on most issues that you don’t have a clue about. what makes a person dumb is them thinking that they are smarter than they are. i know i’m not smart compared to some, but compared to you, i’m a genius. it’s all in the context. IM, there must be something that you know more about than i, but i’m unaware of what it could be. you seem to be too ingenious to tell me what you actually know a lot about. maybe you managed to go through life without learning much of anything. two of my brothers chose to do just that. they didn’t fare too well with little or no skills and no advanced knowledge in anything. the people that graduated high school after the early 70’s, got cheated. the standards were taken way down after the mid 70’s so your group was served a watered down set of standards. i was against this because i knew it would impact our country at some point. it did, now we got people running around dumber than a rock thinking they know something, what a mess. you have no clue as to what i’m talking about do you?
Impeach Biden
April 15, 2024 at 1:09 pm
You continually talk down to me thinking you are some sort of genius. You are painting a mental picture of me that is completely false. First you thought I was some kid living in my parents basement. I think you realize that is not the case.Your political views are the polar opposite of mine. Like I said earlier you will never change my mind. You are a border line socialist and I believe in personal responsibility. Now if you want to play EF Hutton with me and take personal shots then I’m all in. Challenge Accepted.
rick whitaker
April 15, 2024 at 9:07 pm
IM, i am a full blown and proud socialist. i don’t know where you get this borderline socialist comment. and a socialist is about as personally responsible a person as you can get. there are so many subjects i can’t talk to you about because you are not prepared to talk about them. i like reading about quantum physics and have read many books on the subject over the years. BUT i still couldn’t converse with a quantum physician. do you not understand your limits? i’m not belittling your intelligence, just your opinion of your level of intelligence. as i stated, which you conveniently omitted, i am NOT at all smart when compared to a really smart person. you also have omitted to tell me what you do know a lot about. how can you expect to get respect, when you spout so many crazy lies. you are the one with the stupid name calling. ef hutton (i don’t have stocks or bonds ), moonshine ( i don’t drink at all ever ), rural hillbilly ( i live a few blocks from a major university ) , slum lord ( that couldn’t be further from the truth ), and on and on. name callers are weak. bottom line, i go by what you say dude, own it like a man.
Dont Say FLA
April 16, 2024 at 7:45 am
You’ll find that Socialism works perfectly well in the best countries to live in. But you only hear about China and claims that it doesn’t work in China, yet somehow China is giving the USA a run for its money according to the very same folks who claim Socialism does not work.
What is your big problem with Socialism, IBS? Is it that you end up with a handful of rich pricks who take all the money? That sounds no different than Capitalism. Not one iota.
Impeach Biden
April 15, 2024 at 1:27 pm
You have no clue, just like our current CIC.
rick whitaker
April 15, 2024 at 3:39 pm
IM, yeah…………………………………right????????????
Impeach Biden
April 15, 2024 at 1:26 pm
Scrubbed again. Tennessee Rick went crying to the Democrat moderator on this site. Free speech does not exist with leftist Demos.
Impeach Biden Needs to Be Impeached
April 15, 2024 at 4:10 pm
You are such a boring boor.
Impeach Biden
April 16, 2024 at 7:14 am
Yet here you are commenting. Glad to be of service. 🤣
rick whitaker
April 16, 2024 at 11:36 am
IM, people commonly complain about boring people, what’s the problem. you are uninformed and are on some kind of maga contrarianism agenda, so OF COURSE, people find that and you, boring. get over it.
rick whitaker
April 15, 2024 at 4:22 pm
IM, i don’t lie, so when i tell you iv’e never contacted a moderator on this site, that’s what i mean. i suspect you complain about a lot to the moderator, so your guilty mind tells you others do it. i don’t really give a damn if you believe me or not. your type is not worthy of my concern.
Impeach Biden
April 16, 2024 at 7:17 am
Rick I am a big believer in free speech and have never, not one single time run to mommy (moderator) crying. I’m a big boy and can take criticism even from you.
Dont Say FLA
April 16, 2024 at 7:48 am
How does one even complain to “the” moderator? Far as I can tell, there is only WordPress auto-moderation and then somebody comes along a few times each day (most days) and approves every legit post that got auto-moderated. IOW there is no moderation. There’s only delay due to the very bad WordPress auto-mod feature. One tip I think I figured out is that the auto-mod seems to hate repetition. Use any word several times and the auto-mod hits its delay button on ya.
rick whitaker
April 16, 2024 at 10:36 am
DSF, i think you are on to something. i get barred by the wordpress cloudfare message that cuts me off. i think i have found a way around it though.
rick whitaker
April 16, 2024 at 9:42 am
IB, it seems that if you are being banned, a banner type person must make a decision to ban you. that ain’t me. i get banned from sites that are moderated by thin skinned christian types that just don’t allow anybody to talk badly about the jesus character that they made up. i can’t get back on those sites. so jesus freaks (you are probably one ) will not let me be critical of their precious belief in a fairy tale called the bible.
rick whitaker
April 16, 2024 at 10:46 am
IM, if i was the moderator, i would NEVER bar you. your hate filled comments act as a balance to my anti- maga comments. you are probably being barred just like my best comments don’t get through. i have found a way around the auto- banning feature. also i think that each post author has a different banning policy. i know that many people like christians, NEVER let you tell them how you feel about them if it’s my kind of feelings toward them. christians, are my enemy. i hate christians everyday, all day.
rick whitaker
April 16, 2024 at 11:32 am
IM, I HEAR A LOT OF CRYING ON YOUR PART AS TO WHY YOUR IGNORANT POSTS GET BANNED.
rick whitaker
April 16, 2024 at 11:23 am
IM, are you starting to see that you are in a group of people that have far lower standards of what’s good and bad than the rest of us. just because desantis and trump have little or no respect for truth, that doesn’t make them right. that fact makes them and anyone that agrees with them, an enemy of truth and fairness. now , let me hear from you why what i said is wrong. you just don’t have the sense and sensibilities needed to understand too much because you simply, don’t know fact from fiction. i can’t repair you. you are too far gone according to the meanings of your own posts. wake up dude!
Dont Say FLA
April 16, 2024 at 7:50 am
How does one get to be a billionaire? I seriously need to do that, because I dang sure cannot afford the taxes I had to pay yesterday on top of all the taxes I had already paid throughout the year.
Comments are closed.