There's something missing here

[HooFighter]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems a little off here.

Any ideas what it is?

[RiverguyVT]

Proper disclosure on Hillary!->'s form?

[Major Kong]

That Gary Johnson and Donald Trump are smarter than the others

My reaction is good A person's tax return is nobody's damn business. It's between the IRS and the filer.

I don't care about the party affiliation either.

[HokieHam]

That Gary Johnson and Donald Trump are smarter than the others

My reaction is good A person's tax return is nobody's damn business. It's between the IRS and the filer.

I don't care about the party affiliation either.

Yup!

Look! A squirrel!

[133743Hokie]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems a little off here.

Any ideas what it is?

What is the benefit to the public of a candidates tax return?

[awesome guy]

Where's the list of school records?

[BG Hokie]

The tax return is nobody's business is a reasonable angle. I just hope it's a consistent one. Is that as relevant as college transcripts? My guess is the Donald definitely has some stuff he'd rather not have to explain on his... Who knows, he probably has some years where he loses money and, therefore, pays zero in taxes, he has also had some years where he's made big money I'm sure. Real estate can definitely be a business that can accumulate a bunch of losses while still accumulating equity and wealth. Maybe he gives a pathetic amount to charity? Who knows? I will say, however, that Marco Rubio should pay some estimated taxes, to stop having to pay penalties to the man!

Jeb makes some coin!

[BG Hokie]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems a little off here.

Any ideas what it is?

What is the benefit to the public of a candidates tax return?

Do they practice what they preach? Transparency is beneficial in our taxpayer supported government officials.

[133743Hokie]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems a little off here.

Any ideas what it is?

What is the benefit to the public of a candidates tax return?

Do they practice what they preach? Transparency is beneficial in our taxpayer supported government officials.

What? Do you mean "do they pay taxes"? That is easy to resolve. Have the IRS produce a letter that the individual has filed their taxes every year and that there are no outstanding amounts due. Simple.

Now, if you mean "do they pay their fair share", as long as they are legit with the tax code then IMO they are, and it's none of my business. But I expect that's what this is really all about, isn't it. Looking for that "gotcha" where someone can pout thru the return and say that this or that is questionable, that they didn't give enough to charity, that their effective rate was too low, etc., etc. Am I right?

[BG Hokie]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems a little off here.

Any ideas what it is?

What is the benefit to the public of a candidates tax return?

Do they practice what they preach? Transparency is beneficial in our taxpayer supported government officials.

What? Do you mean "do they pay taxes"? That is easy to resolve. Have the IRS produce a letter that the individual has filed their taxes every year and that there are no outstanding amounts due. Simple.

Now, if you mean "do they pay their fair share", as long as they are legit with the tax code then IMO they are, and it's none of my business. But I expect that's what this is really all about, isn't it. Looking for that "gotcha" where someone can pout thru the return and say that this or that is questionable, that they didn't give enough to charity, that their effective rate was too low, etc., etc. Am I right?

Do they say they give to charity or church but really don't? Do they say they have experience owning small businesses but they have no business income, ever? Do they say they pay a ton of taxes but they really don't? Your solution is to grow the government by giving them another form to fill out for the supposed benefit of it's citizens. No thanks, I like the current model, where a politician may elect to disclose or not to disclose with the expectation of potential scrutiny either way.

[awesome guy]

[Jack Galt]

You're right. I don't see any tax returns for Ike, JFK, or LBJ.

[VisorBoy]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems a little off here.

Any ideas what it is?

I never really understood the expectation that candidates release tax returns. Is it solely to see the percentage of income that is donated by the individual?

[USN_Hokie]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems a little off here.

Any ideas what it is?

I never really understood the expectation that candidates release tax returns. Is it solely to see the percentage of income that is donated by the individual?

I would think it's to look for any funny business, but then I assume someone like Trump just gets audited every year.

[VisorBoy]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems a little off here.

Any ideas what it is?

I never really understood the expectation that candidates release tax returns. Is it solely to see the percentage of income that is donated by the individual?

I would think it's to look for any funny business, but then I assume someone like Trump just gets audited every year.

That makes sense.

Regardless of whether the person has been audited, however, if it can be verified that the individual's tax returns are up to date and accepted by the IRS with no outstanding issues, that should be enough.

I know voters want to know as much as they possibly can about a candidate, but some things are kind of personal...

[HokieFanDC]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems a little off here.

Any ideas what it is?

I never really understood the expectation that candidates release tax returns. Is it solely to see the percentage of income that is donated by the individual?

Someone did it once, setting a precedent that is hard to walk back from?

Trump's issue is that he said he would release them, and then decided not to. If he had said from the beginning that he believed in people's personal privacy, blah, blah, blah, he'd be on more solid ground. As it is, he just looks like a liar.

[HooFighter]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems a little off here.

Any ideas what it is?

I never really understood the expectation that candidates release tax returns. Is it solely to see the percentage of income that is donated by the individual?

I would think it's to look for any funny business, but then I assume someone like Trump just gets audited every year.

I don't think anyone would see anything illegal in there. I would presume he does everything within the exact letter of the law on his taxes, paying as little as legally possible. When you have an army of accountants and lawyers you can afford to do that.

My guess is he doesn't want people to see exactly what he does with his money and who he does business with.

[Hokie5150]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems a little off here.

Any ideas what it is?

It appears that Johnson has released his returns although I've not been able to find them online.
https://youtu.be/JfX7Wfm0kQE

[133743Hokie]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems a little off here.

Any ideas what it is?

What is the benefit to the public of a candidates tax return?

Do they practice what they preach? Transparency is beneficial in our taxpayer supported government officials.

What? Do you mean "do they pay taxes"? That is easy to resolve. Have the IRS produce a letter that the individual has filed their taxes every year and that there are no outstanding amounts due. Simple.

Now, if you mean "do they pay their fair share", as long as they are legit with the tax code then IMO they are, and it's none of my business. But I expect that's what this is really all about, isn't it. Looking for that "gotcha" where someone can pout thru the return and say that this or that is questionable, that they didn't give enough to charity, that their effective rate was too low, etc., etc. Am I right?

Do they say they give to charity or church but really don't? Do they say they have experience owning small businesses but they have no business income, ever? Do they say they pay a ton of taxes but they really don't? Your solution is to grow the government by giving them another form to fill out for the supposed benefit of it's citizens. No thanks, I like the current model, where a politician may elect to disclose or not to disclose with the expectation of potential scrutiny either way.

Excuse me? Grow the government by giving them another form to fill out? Really -- that's all you've got?

[BigDave]

Hillary Clinton was "flat broke" in 2001 when her AGI was $16 million????

Good grief, we should all be so lucky as to be "flat broke" like that.

[cwtcr hokie]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems a little off here.

Any ideas what it is?

I never really understood the expectation that candidates release tax returns. Is it solely to see the percentage of income that is donated by the individual?

Someone did it once, setting a precedent that is hard to walk back from?

Trump's issue is that he said he would release them, and then decided not to. If he had said from the beginning that he believed in people's personal privacy, blah, blah, blah, he'd be on more solid ground. As it is, he just looks like a liar.

wrong, he said when the audit was completed by the IRS. If I am him I am only releasing the current years return anyways as he has only been a prez candidate for this year and has not been elected to anything before. And if it is me I am only releasing the first two pages of the 1040, the rest is nobodies business

[BG Hokie]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems a little off here.

Any ideas what it is?

What is the benefit to the public of a candidates tax return?

Do they practice what they preach? Transparency is beneficial in our taxpayer supported government officials.

What? Do you mean "do they pay taxes"? That is easy to resolve. Have the IRS produce a letter that the individual has filed their taxes every year and that there are no outstanding amounts due. Simple.

Now, if you mean "do they pay their fair share", as long as they are legit with the tax code then IMO they are, and it's none of my business. But I expect that's what this is really all about, isn't it. Looking for that "gotcha" where someone can pout thru the return and say that this or that is questionable, that they didn't give enough to charity, that their effective rate was too low, etc., etc. Am I right?

Do they say they give to charity or church but really don't? Do they say they have experience owning small businesses but they have no business income, ever? Do they say they pay a ton of taxes but they really don't? Your solution is to grow the government by giving them another form to fill out for the supposed benefit of it's citizens. No thanks, I like the current model, where a politician may elect to disclose or not to disclose with the expectation of potential scrutiny either way.

Excuse me? Grow the government by giving them another form to fill out? Really -- that's all you've got?

No, I've made 4 or 5 points, including the extra dig that you wanted to seek help from the government to solve an issue that isn't an issue. It was ironically funny. I'm a true conservative, don't need to look to government for a solution to a problem that the free market can take care of well enough on it's own.

[BG Hokie]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems a little off here.

Any ideas what it is?

I never really understood the expectation that candidates release tax returns. Is it solely to see the percentage of income that is donated by the individual?

I would think it's to look for any funny business, but then I assume someone like Trump just gets audited every year.

I don't think anyone would see anything illegal in there. I would presume he does everything within the exact letter of the law on his taxes, paying as little as legally possible. When you have an army of accountants and lawyers you can afford to do that.

My guess is he doesn't want people to see exactly what he does with his money and who he does business with.

Like the RUSSIANS! That's what all the liberal Facebookers are going after these days, Trumps relationship with the evil Russians!

[RiverguyVT]

Who he does business with would not necessarily show up on a government tax form

[HokieFanDC]

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something seems a little off here.

Any ideas what it is?

I never really understood the expectation that candidates release tax returns. Is it solely to see the percentage of income that is donated by the individual?

Someone did it once, setting a precedent that is hard to walk back from?

Trump's issue is that he said he would release them, and then decided not to. If he had said from the beginning that he believed in people's personal privacy, blah, blah, blah, he'd be on more solid ground. As it is, he just looks like a liar.

wrong, he said when the audit was completed by the IRS. If I am him I am only releasing the current years return anyways as he has only been a prez candidate for this year and has not been elected to anything before. And if it is me I am only releasing the first two pages of the 1040, the rest is nobodies business

1) The IRS audit only covers certain years, so there is zero reason to hold all his returns.
2) An IRS audit doesn't preclude him from releasing the tax forms that were submitted. Assuming that he thinks the tax docs he submitted are accurate, that's just an excuse.