"Warren Buffet just said he was also under audit, but would be more than happy to show his returns if Trump would do the same."
1st) BFD
2nd) Who gives a rat's backside what Buffet would be happy to do regarding his tax returns? This is the same guy that has paid as little taxes as possible, famously even lower than his secretary (without telling the public that it is because of HOW he earns his money while he calls for higher taxes for the wealthy and demonize Repubs because he has a smaller tax liability than his secretary - insert the very meaning of dishonesty here ). Buffet is not running for the office of President so what he would do with his tax returns doesn't mean a darn thing in this discussion.
Trump said that he is being audited and that he would not release any under audit tax returns until the audit files are closed by the IRS.
Mike, have you ever been audited by the IRS?
I have, and I have other family members that have not only been through IRS audits once, but at least 2 have been audited multiple times. There are legitimate legal reasons as well as retaining certain rights people/company under IRS audit would not publish their tax returns that are under audit. One such right is that the auditor has only one (1) chance to see (and if necessary make a copy of) any record they request to see as part of the audit. As large as his tax returns are, if the auditor did not have their ducks in a row, they could easily destroy their own audit if they don't make a copy of a record that they may later think helps make their case. There are many, many more rights and legal reasons that common sense alone makes publishing a tax return that is currently under audit a very unwise action.
Trump has not claimed that his multi-years of returns are being audited for the exact same reasons; If any 3 consecutive years were to be audited for the exact same "issues", he needs new lawyers if there was/is a 4th+ year (may actually be only a max of 2 yrs, can't remember right now) of audits for the same thing. I have one uncle who shut down his 4th audit by asserting his rights to prevent just that, by quoting IRS rules to the IRS auditor; for at least the next 10 years (may be longer than that?), he was never the subject of an IRS audit.
When I walked out of my own IRS audit, they ended up owing me money; had I not taken the time to educated myself on my rights and the benefits that the subject of an audit can actually gain during the audit process the outcome may have been different for me. I think it can be safely stated that the vast majority of people who are not represented by an attorney does not take the time to educate themselves on not only their rights but also just how to assert those rights when it is appropriate. After I learned what I did about how to handle an IRS audit, there is no way on Earth you would have gotten me to make my under audit tax returns public.
Trump has people working very hard on his, or his businesses, behalf to include every legal deduction available. Don't we, as either self employed, or business owners, do the exact same (ourselves or if he hire the services of others to do it for us)? Honestly, why would that be a surprise to anyone, or something that anyone who actually understands how citizens and companies are taxed would view as a negative? Shouldn't it be more of a concern to taxpayers if someone routinely overpaid their tax liability each year (not as taxes + any donation amount - that is something different)? If they can't be fiscally responsible with their own income, what the hell makes anyone think they would be fiscally responsible with our tax dollars?
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