Joel Rosenfeld, a real estate accountant and New York University professor who reviewed some of the filings at The Times’s request, said Mr. Trump’s narrow margins at 40 Wall Street before last year raised questions about the building’s long-term prospects. “He may have turned the corner,” Mr. Rosenfeld said.

The recent negative cash flow at two of Mr. Trump’s premier properties raises possible motivations he may have for not releasing his tax returns: They could show that his success is not as he has claimed, or that he pays little or nothing in federal taxes. That could be a continuation of a long trend. An article last month in The Times revealed that Mr. Trump’s 1995 tax records showed a $916 million loss that could have allowed Mr. Trump to legally avoid paying federal income taxes for up to 18 years.

While the property tax appeals are a useful reality check on individual properties, they provide an imperfect window to Mr. Trump’s overall income and wealth.

The income and expense statements in such appeals are not available on every Trump property for every year. Also, the performance of a few properties cannot reflect the entirety of Mr. Trump’s endeavors, which have included the successful “Apprentice” reality television series as well as naming rights and management fees he earns from buildings in New York and elsewhere. And the nine-figure numbers Mr. Trump presents as his income do not include streams like royalties, investments and capital gains.

But the appeals show a level of detail absent in other documents that have become public. While appeals on residential properties are based on appraisals that have a level of subjectivity, commercial appeals typically start with the amount of income a business makes after expenses. The appeals filed in New York include figures that were certified by a public accountant and sworn to by Mr. Trump, under penalty of prosecution if he intentionally misstated them. They were supported by rent rolls and other documentation.