2017-04-23nytimes.com

"Trump said he knows where the loopholes are, but so far he hasn't proposed closing any of them," Mr. Rosenthal said. "Maybe he will. But so far he hasn't made any of the hard decisions that would show he's willing to close the loopholes that benefit him in order to make the tax code more fair and efficient."

... it is hard to see a path toward reducing overall corporate tax rates -- the crucial element in making any overhaul palatable to a wide swath of businesses -- without the added revenues from eliminating the interest deduction.

(Individuals generally cannot deduct interest payments -- with the major exception of mortgage interest, another boon to the real estate industry, albeit one that also benefits millions of homeowners. Mr. Trump has said eliminating the mortgage deduction is off the table.)

Then there is the ability of "active" real estate investors such as Mr. Trump (but virtually no other group) to deduct their real estate losses against other income. That loophole was eliminated for most investors -- including real estate investors -- in the landmark tax legislation in 1986. But because of aggressive lobbying by the powerful real estate industry, including Mr. Trump himself, Congress passed legislation in 1993 restoring the tax break for so-called active real estate developers.

... Another loophole for real estate developers is the so-called like-kind exchange provision, which allows real estate investors to defer or even eliminate capital gains tax by using the proceeds from a sale to reinvest in a similar property (which does not have to be all that similar -- just about any real estate can be exchanged, even an apartment complex for vacant land).



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