Missoula CPA Responds to NY Times Trump Income Tax Story

Missoula CPA Walt Kero of Kero Byington and Associates responded on Monday to the New York Times story on Donald Trump’s New York state tax returns.

Kero said one of the basic principles of being a taxpayer is to pay as little tax as is required by law.

“There's nothing in the law that says you have to pay more,” said Kero. “You can if you want, but that's strictly voluntary. You should you should pay the least amount of tax because that's all a citizen is required to do. You know if he if he lost money from real estate in 2008, those losses would carry forward up to 15 years.”

Kero has advice for the President.

“I've been thinking about this since I first heard it, and I think the way to deal with this is to have Trump take some of the checks he used to write to pay taxes and say here's my check, and that doesn't disclose his tax return,” he said. “I know he pays a boatload of property and payroll taxes because of his employees and the property he owns. But with income taxes, until you see the returns, everything is speculation, and I think that anything that comes from this is that speculation that that's fueling all of this hysteria.”

Kero also surmised the intent of the timing of the story just before the first debate with former Vice President Joe Biden.

“What the New York Times is saying is political election year bloviation for lack of a better description,” he said. “I could get more colorful but there's no need. They're taking bits and pieces of information and just throwing it out there and just seeing what sticks to stir up the New York Times’ base. They are being a political actor here and it is pretty obvious.”

Kero appears twice a month on KGVO’s Talk Back program to offer general tax advice to listeners.