September, 28 2020, 12:00am EDT
![Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy](https://assets.rbl.ms/32012354/origin.png)
New York Times' Trump Tax Revelation Confirms What We Already Know
Following is a statement from Steve Wamhoff, federal policy director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding a New York Times report that revealed President Trump paid $0 in federal income taxes in 10 of the last 15 years and just $750 in 2016 and 2017.
WASHINGTON
Following is a statement from Steve Wamhoff, federal policy director at the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, regarding a New York Times report that revealed President Trump paid $0 in federal income taxes in 10 of the last 15 years and just $750 in 2016 and 2017.
"The New York Times' revelation of Trump's years of dodging taxes confirms something we already know. There are two tax systems: one that most of us follow and another far more generous one for the very rich.
"In a detailed report, ITEP outlined how tax rules are particularly permissive for wealthy real estate investors like Trump, especially when it comes to when and how they can report losses to wipe out other income.
"Business owners have income from a venture only if it is profitable, so some rules are necessary to recognize when a venture fails to profit. But so-called 'losses' allowed by federal tax rules are not what most people think of when they hear the word 'losses.'
"A business owner can report a loss when expenses exceed revenue, but the expenses that Trump reports are problematic to say the least. For example, some of his reported expenses appear to involve overcompensating family members through 'consulting fees,' which can have the added bonus of avoiding payroll taxes.
"ITEP has explained why many of the 'business losses' reported by the rich exist only on paper and why Congress recently made a mistake when it included a provision in the CARES Act that made it even easier for wealthy business owners to claim these losses.
"While it is common for the wealthy to use the tax code this way, Trump is in a league of his own. His losses seem to be, in many cases, more than just paper losses. Anything he is personally involved in tends to lose money. And it is possible that his various maneuvers do, in fact, exceed what is allowed by the law. The IRS may soon find that he owes more than $100 million, according to the Times.
"But the fact is that Trump has been able to get by for years with sketchy claims on his tax returns, including his endless business deductions for clearly personal expenses and his claim that a mansion is a business investment despite publicly identifying it as a family residence. Trump's decades-long ability to avoid consequences for this tax dodging demonstrates that he enjoys a set of rules more generous than anything the rest of us can imagine.
"The New York Times report did not include Trump's tax returns for 2018 and 2019, the first two years after the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act went into effect. The law opened new tax avoidance opportunities for wealthy business owners.
"F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, 'Let me tell you about the very rich. They are different from you and me.' As Fitzgerald knew, they often play by their own set of rules. Trump may not be as rich as he says, and he may be losing money by the minute, but when it comes to his taxes, he still fits that description."
Founded in 1980, the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) is a non-profit, non-partisan research organization, based in Washington, DC, that focuses on federal and state tax policy. ITEP's mission is to inform policymakers and the public of the effects of current and proposed tax policies on tax fairness, government budgets, and sound economic policy. ITEP's full body of research is available at www.itepnet.org.
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'Tragic Outcome' for Gig Workers as California Supreme Court Hands Win to Uber, DoorDash
"Today's ruling only strengthens our demand for the right to join together in a union so that we can begin improving the gig economy for workers and our customers," the case plaintiff said.
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Labor advocates on Thursday decried a ruling by the California Supreme Court upholding a lower court's affirmation of a state ballot measure allowing app-based ride and delivery companies to classify their drivers as independent contractors, limiting their worker rights.
The court's seven justices ruled unanimously in Castellanos v. State of California that Proposition 22, which was approved by 58% of California voters in 2020, complies with the state constitution. Prop 22—which was overturned in 2021 by an Alameda County Superior Court judge in 2021—was upheld in March 2023 by the state's 1st District Court of Appeals.
The business models of app-based companies including DoorDash, Instacart, Lyft, and Uber rely upon minimizing frontline worker compensation by categorizing drivers as independent contractors instead of employees. Independent contractors are not entitled to unemployment insurance, health insurance, or compensation for business expenses.
There are approximately 1.4 million app-based gig workers in California, according to industry estimates.
While DoorDash hailed Thursday's ruling as "not only a victory for Dashers, but also for democracy itself," gig worker advocates condemned the decision.
"Over the last three years, gig workers across California have experienced firsthand that Prop 22 is nothing more than a bait-and-switch meant to enrich global corporations at the expense of the Black, brown, and immigrant workers who power their earnings," plaintiff Hector Castellanos, who drives for Uber and Lyft, said in a statement.
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Lorena Gonzalez, president of the California Federation of Labor Unions, AFL-CIO, said that "we are deeply disappointed that the state Supreme Court has allowed tech corporations to buy their way out of basic labor laws despite Proposition 22's inconsistencies with our state constitution."
"These companies have upended our social contract, forcing workers and the public to take on the inherent risk created by this work, while they profit," she continued. "A.B. 5 granted virtually all California workers the right to be paid for all hours worked, health and safety standards, unemployment insurance, workers compensation, and the right to organize."
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The Gig Workers Rising campaign said on social media that "Uber and other app corporations spent $220 million to buy this law, and they did it by tricking Californians."
Prop 22's passage in November 2020 with nearly 59% of the vote was the culmination of what was by far the most expensive ballot measure in California history. App-based companies and their backers outspent labor and progressive groups by more than 10 to 1, with proponents pouring a staggering $204.5 million into the "yes" campaign's coffers against just $19 million for the "no" side.
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Veena Dubal, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine who focuses on labor and inequality, toldCalMatters that Thursday's ruling was "a really tragic outcome," but "it's not the end of the road."
Dubal's sentiment was echoed by some California state legislators, who said the ruling presents an opportunity to act.
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Prop 22 has served as a template for lawmakers in other states seeking to deny or limit basic worker rights, benefits, and protections.
In Massachusetts, app-based companies have been fighting for years to get a measure to classify drivers as contractors on the state ballot. In 2022, Lyft made the largest political donation in state history—$14.4 million—to a coalition funding one such proposal.
Last month, Uber and Lyft reached an agreement with the office of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell, a Democrat, to pay $175 million to settle a lawsuit filed in 2020. As part of the deal, the companies also agreed to increase driver pay and provide paid sick leave, accident insurance, and some health benefits. The agreement does not address how app-based gig workers should be classified.
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"Democrats are at a critical crossroads with young people," the coalition wrote to Harris on Thursday. "Polls showed Biden and Trump neck-and-neck among young voters."
ANew York Times/Siena College poll conducted July 22-24 shows Trump leading Harris 48% to 47% among likely voters and 48% to 46% among registered voters—differences that fall within the margin of error.
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The performers are represented by Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), which last year won a contract for TV and film actors that included "unprecedented provisions for consent and compensation that will protect members from the threat of AI," after the union went on strike for four months.
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Unionized actors want protections that would stop video game companies from training AI to replicate actors' voices or likeness without their consent and without compensating them.
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