new york times describe it legally dubious. yes it was aggressive. there was no law on the subject at the time. trump s tax strategies have been familiar fodder from democrats on the campaign trail. but as cnn has reported back in the 1990s when donald trump was going through bankruptcy, developer booms or busts and vaguely written federal tax laws the idea of developers not paying federal taxes was pretty routine. back in the day did other people do it? oh yeah. and richard lipton says it continues to this day. most real estate investors pay very little if any tax provided that they are active real estate investors. trump has embraced his tax prowess, making it part of his campaign. when portions of his 95 state tax returns were leaked to thes press showing a $916 million write off that could have helped him avoid paying taxes more than
so how is it someone who s supposedly so rich pays no federal income tax? you re probably not going to like the answer. cnn senior investigative reporter drew griffin reports. reporter: it s become the center of democratic attacks against him. the idea, the speculation that billionaire donald trump pays no federal income tax. not only is that possibly true, says real estate tax attorney, richard lipton, in the big world of big league real estate, it s perfectly legal and almost expected. most real estate investors pay very little, if any, tax provided that they are active real estate investors. reporter: that s right. active real estate investors can pay little to absolutely no taxes. and in sunday night s debate, donald trump made no apologies about it. see, i understand the tax code better than anybody that s ever run for president.
loss of almost $1 billion. did you use that $916 million loss to avoid paying federal income taxes for of course i do. of course i do. so how is it someone who s supposedly so rich pays no federal income tax. you re probably not going to like the answer. cnn senior investigative reporter drew griffin reports. reporter: it s become the center of democratic attacks against him. the idea, the speculation that billionaire donald trump pays no federal income tax. not only is that possibly true, says real estate tax attorney, richard lipton, in the big world of big league real estate, it s perfectly league and almost expected. most real estate investors pay very little, if any, tax provided that they are active real estate investors. reporter: that s right. active real estate investors can pay little to absolutely no taxes. and in sunday night s debate, donald trump made no apologies about it. see, i understand the tax code better than anybody that s ever run for president. c
though the building s market value is going up. if trump can add up enough on-paper losses year by year, he can basically erase his taxable income from the property itself and even income from other trump operations, like licensing, leasing, and tv reality shows. money, money, money, money reporter: real estate expert richard lipton says it wouldn t be surprising if all these paper losses reduced donald trump s federal income tax to zero. so if you re running a tv show, call it the apprentice, and you have real estate and it s generating losses, the tax losses from the real estate can be used to offset the income from your tv show. reporter: and the losses can be huge, even when your income is huge. thus, in 1995, donald trump files a tax return with a $916 million loss, but still, apparently, lives like a king. don t blame trump, says tax
income from the property itself and even income from other trump operations, like licensing, leasing, and tv reality shows. money, money, money, money reporter: real estate expert richard lipton says it wouldn t be surprising if all these paper losses reduced donald trump s federal income tax to zero. so if you re running a tv show, call it the apprentice, and you have real estate and it s generating losses, the tax losses from the real estate can be used to offset the income from your tv show. reporter: and the losses can be huge, even when your income is huge. thus, in 1995, donald trump files a tax return with a $916 million loss, but still, apparently, lives like a king. don t blame trump, says tax analyst and journalist lee shepard, blame the politicians who wrote the rules to benefit big developers. that s why we say that