Profitable Losses, or How Trump Trimmed His Taxes: QuickTake

How does a billionaire pay next to nothing in federal income taxes? The simple answer is by losing money. But a New York Times report on how President Donald Trump has consistently whittled down his tax liability, paying just $750 in 2016 and again in 2017, shows how complicated that approach can be in practice. Many of the tax breaks laid out in the Times’ Sept. 27 story are not only legal but common, raising questions of the fairness of the tax system in general.

1. What did the Times article say?

That Trump paid just $750 in U.S. income ...