Tax evasion is illegal, tax avoidance is perfectly legal. Many people make millions but effectively shield it all. The reason why Trump may not show is returns is that most people do not under stand this. Right now I have a rental I need to tear down. It was a rental and as such I need to show depreciation. The IRS will calculate when I sell and tax me on the profit off the depreciated value, whether or not I take it, so of course I do. There is no rent coming so the depreciation and taxes and other expenses are all deducted from my income. The property, up to a few months ago, was going up rapidly in value, so I was more than making the expenses in appreciation. When I sale, I likely will do a tax free exchange and move the money into a more expensive income producing property. Done right, I will start to make a good return but most of it will be non-taxable because of the in the increased depreciation base and other expenses. This is on a very small scale, but Trump and others are doing this on properties in the hundreds of millions.