Gosh, what could Donald Trump be trying to hide by refusing to release his tax returns? Could he have gone a little further in avoiding taxes than many voters would be comfortable with? Bits and pieces of information that have become public suggest maybe so:
Trump wrote on a candidate disclosure form that the [Trump National Golf Club] is worth “more than $50 million.”
But when it came time to value the property for tax purposes, his lawyers have argued that Trump National is really only worth $1.35 million. [...]
Trump was one of a number of celebrities identified in a New York state investigation into a sales tax dodge by the Bulgari jewelry store on Fifth Avenue. Store officials had been accused of selling expensive items to celebrity customers, and then sending an empty box to an out-of-state address so the customers would not have to pay New York sales tax.
To a significant fraction of Republican voters, this probably looks brave and principled, because those people hate government and have learned to love Republican grifting. But to many other voters, things like buying expensive jewelry and having an empty box sent out of state to avoid sales tax or claiming a giant golf club is worth one amount for tax purposes and 37 times that for public bragging purposes is going to look tacky and suspicious.
Then again, Trump could equally be hiding that his income is a lot lower than he wants the world to believe. But one thing’s for sure: He’s hiding something, and until he releases those tax returns, we’re going to have a lot of fun speculating about what it is.