regarding donald trump <u+2019>s income taxes (<u+201c> progressives for trump tax reform ,<u+201d> review & outlook, oct. 3), i offer the following quote by the famed federal jurist learned hand (1872-1961): <u+201c>anyone may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase one<u+2019>s taxes.<u+201d> ( gregory v. helvering , 1935). therefore, one shouldn<u+2019>t call mr. trump unpatriotic or immoral for doing what any prudent businessman would do. james m. dilley, cpa cordova, tenn. i<u+2019>m a cpa who has been in practice for over 20 years. let<u+2019>s be honest about donald trump<u+2019>s <u+201c>genius<u+201d> as it relates to the internal revenue code. any first-year accounting student understands how to use the carry-forward and carry-back provisions of federal tax law as it relates to net operating losses. the only <u+201c>genius<u+201d> act of mr. trump is getting people to actually believe that the massive losses he incurred, which let him use those well-known aspects of the tax code, was a brilliant strategy. massive losses are the result of massive incompetence, just as his serial bankruptcies are the result of serial failures. only in an alternate universe are failures, losses and bankruptcies a sign of genius. richard j. cohen margate, n.j. mr. trump took advantage of the four-million-word tax code by taking a $900 million loss so he didn<u+2019>t have to pay federal income taxes for several years. hillary clinton did the same thing when she took a $700,000 loss to not pay taxes the following year, as her campaign manager acknowledged. she<u+2019>s a hypocrite for criticizing mr. trump for doing what she did. mark peter solana beach, calif. hillary clinton, the democrats and their media acolytes believe that mr. trump has somehow not paid his so-called <u+201c>fair share<u+201d> of taxes, despite the fact that for the permissible measurement period in question he had zero taxable income. this should scare not only all companies, investors and individual businesses doing business in the u.s., it should scare those who may in the future consider investing risk capital in the u.s. to create, expand or even continue a business. this should scare all americans bob wynne malibu, calif. this situation has nothing to do with being rich. if you and i own a two-family home and rent out half of it to generate income, you fall under the same rules for income, depreciation and amortization as mr. trump does. michael k. murdoch stamford, conn. some years ago the new york times sold the boston globe at a loss of $1 billion or so. do you suppose the times did exactly what mr. trump appears to have done<u+2014>used the loss as a carry-forward which offset tax liability in subsequent years? neil gaffney chicago vice president joe biden recently explained <u+201c> how short-termism saps the economy <u+201d> (op-ed, sept. 28) and endangers america<u+2019>s economic recovery. mr. trump<u+2019>s smoothing of losses over the long term is a perfect opportunity for vice president biden to prove that he wasn<u+2019>t just blowing partisan smoke, by penning another op-ed explaining <u+201c>how long-termism in the tax code stimulates the economy.<u+201d> adam clark alexandria, va. without the tax loss carry-forward, you wouldn<u+2019>t have many new businesses formed nor as many established businesses hanging on to their employees during down cycles. i am a businessman who paid no federal income tax during a loss year, but my employees did. where did they get the money to pay taxes? from my losses. weldon wilson sherman oaks, calif. let me get this straight. donald trump is attacked for following the law, and hillary clinton gets a pass after breaking laws about the security and preservation of government records. isn<u+2019>t that the definition of hypocrisy? susan petrarca lemont, ill. regarding <u+201c> taxes pose new challenge for trump <u+201d> (page one, oct. 3): if donald trump has paid no taxes for several years and did so legally, then his tax bill isn<u+2019>t an indictment of him but rather of a tax code that is absurdly complex and seriously broken. kenneth a. margolis chappaqua, n.y. regarding donald trump<u+2019>s claimed business deductions over 20 years ago: at least he didn<u+2019>t deduct the donation of his used underwear as a charitable contribution, as the clintons did back then. paul kamenar chevy chase, md.
trump<u+2019>s taxes and tax loss carry-forwards - wsj
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