Regarding what Trump paid, it is important to note that tax avoidance is not the same as tax evasion. Tax avoidance is perfectly legal, and if his tax preparers didn’t get his tax liability down to the minimum as prescribed by law, Trump should find tax preparers who can.
“Any one 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’s taxes.”
Judge Learned Hand, Helvering v. Gregory, 69 F.2d 809, 810-11 (2d Cir. 1934).
In sophisticated real estate development and ownership, a lot of income is offset by expenses and depreciation and held in subsidiaries, partnerships and trusts, with wealth accumulated and reinvested instead of being taken as income. And when personal income is taken, it too is usually timed and offset by losses. These maneuvers are legal but bewildering to the general public.