Death and taxes come for us all, but not equally

Consider it Tax Returns Tuesday.

The New York Times put out part two of its bombshell investigation about President Donald Trump’s tax returns last night. Democratic nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden published his returns ahead of the first presidential debate this evening. Today though, we’re going to zoom out a bit.

Because here’s the thing: When Trump paid only $750 in federal income tax in both 2016 and 2017, he was following the law. In the United States, you can’t evade taxes, but there are a lot of rules that let you avoid them. Those rules don’t benefit everyone equally.

Here to give us some insight about the tax code is Chye-Ching Huang. She’s senior director of economic policy with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities’ federal fiscal policy team. The U.S. has a much smaller tax apparatus than other countries, she says, which also perpetuates inequality by funding fewer public services.

Later in the show, we’ll get fired up about mail-in ballots and bounce back when we hear our listeners’ love letters to Costco. Plus, Adriene from “Yoga With Adriene” answers the Make Me Smart question.

When you’re done listening, tell your Echo device to “make me smart” for our daily explainers. This week: school choice, “Jeopardy!” and tequila. Plus, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter! You can find the latest issue here.

Here’s a list of everything we talked about today:

• Part two of The New York Times’ investigation into Trump’s tax records
• Part one of that same investigation
• “18 Revelations From a Trove of Trump Tax Records,” a shorter version also from The New York Times
• Some of Huang’s recent research: “Tax Code Can Do More to Narrow Racial Gaps in Income and Wealth“
• “Substantial Income of Wealthy Households Escapes Annual Taxation or Enjoys Special Tax Breaks,” also from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
• “IRS: Sorry, but It’s Just Easier and Cheaper to Audit the Poor” from ProPublica
• “In Brooklyn, Many Absentee Ballots Have Errors, Voters Say” from The New York Times
• Adriene Mishler’s YouTube channel “Yoga With Adriene”
• Finally, check out this hilarious bingo card made by listener Ben Vickers in Cave Creek, Arizona. Thanks, Ben!

Finally, we hit our pledge drive’s $150,000 stretch goal in one day! Thank you so much. There’s still time to give at at marketplace.org/givesmart!