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Trump Claims The New York Times ‘Illegally’ Published His Taxes. We Investigate If That’s True.
Law Newz
by Rachel Stockman
10/2/2016
Excerpt:
This weekend, The New York Times obtained a portion of Donald Trump‘s 1995 income tax returns that seem to suggest that he could have avoided paying federal income taxes for the last 18 years. The reason? Trump reported a $916 million loss back then, which could have helped him legally avoid paying taxes for years. The story behind how the Times got a hold of the returns is even more mysterious. The three pages were apparently sent to Times reporter Susanne Craig anonymously. Even stranger, the document had a return address of Trump Tower. Trump’s attorney immediately sent a letter to the editors of the Times arguing that publishing the records is “illegal” because Mr. Trump has not authorized the disclosure of any of his tax returns.” So, is that true? Is it illegal for The Times to publish his returns? Nope. The First Amendment likely protects The Times from any liability so long as they didn’t actively participate in any illegality. It doesn’t look like they did. This is a well-settled issue that has been decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, that doesn’t mean that whoever sent them to the newspaper is off the hook.
“If released from the files of the IRS or a state tax agency by a government employee, this would be a felony,” Robert Kovacev, a tax attorney with Steptoe & Johnson explained to LawNewz.com. According to 26 U.S. Code 6103, it is illegal for any officer of the government to release a person’s tax information without authorization. There is a provision in the law that allows the government to disclose the taxes with the consent or authorization of the taxpayer. Obviously, in this case, we know Trump didn’t give authorization. However, we don’t know for sure where the tax returns came from. The only way the Times could possibly be in legal trouble is if it was later discovered that one of their reporters actively encouraged or helped a government employee to break the law. If we believe the account from the newspaper, that is not what happened at all. The Times said they had no hand in obtaining the documents, they were merely sent to them in the form of an anonymous letter.
There is another option. The taxes could have been released by one of Trump’s former accountants or tax attorneys, Maybe this person had a grudge against Trump or wanted the public to see the truth. If that was the case, the accountant or attorney could be in a boat load of professional trouble for what he/she did. Releasing tax information would be an egregious breach of attorney/client coverage. And, if it was in fact, one of Trump’s old attorneys he/she could face professional sanctions.
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View the complete article, including image, at:
http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/trum...if-thats-true/
Law Newz
by Rachel Stockman
10/2/2016
Excerpt:
This weekend, The New York Times obtained a portion of Donald Trump‘s 1995 income tax returns that seem to suggest that he could have avoided paying federal income taxes for the last 18 years. The reason? Trump reported a $916 million loss back then, which could have helped him legally avoid paying taxes for years. The story behind how the Times got a hold of the returns is even more mysterious. The three pages were apparently sent to Times reporter Susanne Craig anonymously. Even stranger, the document had a return address of Trump Tower. Trump’s attorney immediately sent a letter to the editors of the Times arguing that publishing the records is “illegal” because Mr. Trump has not authorized the disclosure of any of his tax returns.” So, is that true? Is it illegal for The Times to publish his returns? Nope. The First Amendment likely protects The Times from any liability so long as they didn’t actively participate in any illegality. It doesn’t look like they did. This is a well-settled issue that has been decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, that doesn’t mean that whoever sent them to the newspaper is off the hook.
“If released from the files of the IRS or a state tax agency by a government employee, this would be a felony,” Robert Kovacev, a tax attorney with Steptoe & Johnson explained to LawNewz.com. According to 26 U.S. Code 6103, it is illegal for any officer of the government to release a person’s tax information without authorization. There is a provision in the law that allows the government to disclose the taxes with the consent or authorization of the taxpayer. Obviously, in this case, we know Trump didn’t give authorization. However, we don’t know for sure where the tax returns came from. The only way the Times could possibly be in legal trouble is if it was later discovered that one of their reporters actively encouraged or helped a government employee to break the law. If we believe the account from the newspaper, that is not what happened at all. The Times said they had no hand in obtaining the documents, they were merely sent to them in the form of an anonymous letter.
There is another option. The taxes could have been released by one of Trump’s former accountants or tax attorneys, Maybe this person had a grudge against Trump or wanted the public to see the truth. If that was the case, the accountant or attorney could be in a boat load of professional trouble for what he/she did. Releasing tax information would be an egregious breach of attorney/client coverage. And, if it was in fact, one of Trump’s old attorneys he/she could face professional sanctions.
.................................................. ..
View the complete article, including image, at:
http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/trum...if-thats-true/