Trump’s taxes revealed
President Donald Trump paid just US$750 (NZ$1144) in federal income taxes in 2016 and the same amount in 2017, and paid no taxes at all in several previous years, largely because his business empire has reported losing more money than it made, according to a new report in the New York Times.
In a story posted yesterday afternoon, the Times said it had obtained tax-return data for Trump and his businesses covering much of the last two decades. Trump has refused to release his tax returns – making him the only president in recent history to do so – and he went to the Supreme Court earlier this year to stop Congress and the Manhattan District Attorney from accessing them.
The Times story shows what Trump would not: that the business empire he brags about has struggled, with keystone properties like the president’s Doral resort and his D.C. hotel steadily losing money. And that, in the next few years, Trump will be required to pay about US$421 million in loans and other debts.
The Times story said Trump is still fighting the IRS over a US$72.9 million tax refund that he was granted in 2010. The IRS is trying to determine if that refund, granted after Trump claimed extensive business losses, was legitimate: if Trump loses that fight, the paper said, he could have to pay more than US$100 million.
In a press briefing at the White House yesterday, Trump called the Times story ‘‘fake news,’’ but did not take issue with any specific details. ‘‘I’ve paid a lot, and I paid a lot in state income taxes, too,’’ Trump replied. ‘‘New York state charges a lot. And I’ve paid a lot of money in state.’’ Trump also promised to release his tax returns after his IRS audit is completed – a promise he has made since he first ran for office, without ever releasing any information.
Trump still owns his business, though he says he has given dayto-day control to his eldest sons, Eric and Donald Jr.
Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organisation, said in a statement that ‘‘The New York Times’ story is riddled with gross inaccuracies,’’ but he named only one specific issue: the amount of taxes Trump has paid to the federal government. ‘‘Over the past decade the president has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government,’’ Garten said. Garten gave a similar statement to the Times, which said it believed Garten was conflating federal income taxes with other kinds of taxes, including Social Security and Medicare taxes.
After the Times story was published, several Democrats in Congress said that it confirmed that Congress – and the public – should have a complete view of Trump’s business entanglements.
‘‘As the leader of Congress’s fight to obtain Donald Trump tax returns, this blockbuster report confirms some of our worst fears,’’ said Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr (D-N.J.). ‘‘Trump’s titanic financial losses confirm that while he campaigned as a socalled brilliant financial wizard, Trump is a cheat, a fraud, and perhaps the worst businessman in the world.’’
Rep. Richard E. Neal (D-Mass.), the head of the taxwriting Ways and Means committee, said in a statement that he worried that Trump would try to influence the IRS’ handling of his audit. ‘‘Now, Donald Trump is the boss of the agency he considers an adversary,’’ Neal said.
– Washington Post