Avoiding tax and Donald Trump's nearly 1 billion dollar loss

Donald Trump declared a nearly $1 billion loss on his 1995 tax return; this has led to taxes being in the news a lot lately. Warren Buffett and George Soros do it too (paper losses- avoiding tax). Starbucks and Amazon did it too. (clever & perfectly legal tax avoidance schemes).

We live in a system where corporations can manage the taxes they pay. So, I would think the system we use is broken and needs fixing.

I don't like Starbuck's coffees anyway for their taste and prefer giving my money to local, independent coffee shops. Starbucks paid nearly as much corporation tax in 2015 as it did in its first 14 years in the UK, after bowing to pressure to scrap its complex tax structures (and much tax shaming).

Tax is much needed for it is part of the flow of money that keeps economies healthy. Like a river, the money system is healthier when it flows rather than stagnates. So, for this one, don't blame Trump but the system. We need more financial integrity.

Further Reading Resources:

Trump's 1995 Return Shows Good Tax Policy at Work - Bloomberg

Starbucks pays UK corporation tax of £8.1m- Guardian

The smart person's guide to paying taxes - Bloomberg (This Bloomberg article talks about how a real estate investor could lose other people's money but then count it as a personal loss for tax purposes. And how the tax system potentially needs fixing in the US).