PORTLAND, Oregon — Following a widely shared New York Times article about President Donald Trump's tax returns, experts in Oregon are weighing in on the methods used while filing.
KGW wanted to look at the big picture: how does someone with millions of dollars in assets pay less income tax than someone of average income? And can people with average income utilize any of the same tools to lower their taxes?
April Gutierrez founded Pacific Northwest Tax Service with her husband, Jess, in Portland. Their son, Austin, also works in the family business. April and Austin analyzed the info in the New York Times article and shared their perspective with KGW.
The full 28-minute interview with KGW's Galen Ettlin is viewable here:
The Times article found the president did not pay income tax for 10 out of 15 years beginning in 2000. April and Austin Gutierrez explained that was done in part through offsetting income and taking out millions in business loans.
"That would be extremely difficult for someone of average income to do," April said.
April added that following the tax rewrite in 2017, filing for deductions is now considerably more difficult for individuals.
"Congress took away the ability of wage earners to deduct [job-related] expenses of any kind," April said. "Corporations continue to be allowed to claim all of their ordinary and necessary business expenses."
The Times did find the president paid $750 in federal income tax in 2016 and 2017.
"This tax story also points to the larger picture of U.S. tax law," Austin said. "You have someone like Trump who lives a pretty wealthy lifestyle. However, the NYT reporting on tax returns reflects that he pays minimal taxes. For the average wage earner—let's say earning $50-60,000 a year—they're going to be paying more than $750 in federal income tax most likely. So the question to Americans is: do you think that's fair?"
President Trump and his legal team have disputed the New York Times article. His lawyer said the president has paid tens of millions of dollars in federal taxes over the years.