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‘TOTALLY MADE UP’
DONALD Trump has branded a New York Times report claiming he paid no income tax for 10 years and only $750 federal taxes in 2017 as "totally fake news".
During his press briefing at the White House, just one hour after the figures were published, the president denied the bombshell claims, saying they were "made up."
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He told reporters: "I pay a lot. And I pay a lot of state taxes too."
The president vowed that information about his taxes "will all be revealed," but did not disclose when this would be.
The New York Times article also claimed the year Trump became president, he paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years.
The alleged reason that he did not pay the taxes over the decade is due to reporting losing more money than he had made.
Trump has previously fought to keep his tax returns private, with the president telling the Associated Press in 2015 that "there's nothing to learn from them."
The documents were obtained by the Times and cover over 20 years of data on Trump's finances.
A lawyer for the Trump organization, Alan Garten, said the article is "riddled with gross inaccuracies."
Garten said: "Over the past decade the President has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government."
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The Times reported that the public filings required of Trump as president offer a "distorted picture" of his finances.
For example, in 2018 when Trump disclosed that he made $434.9million, the tax records said he had $47.4million in losses.
Trump also reported paying taxes overseas in 2017 - however, these were drastically higher than the alleged $750 US contribution.
The Times reported that Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes in his home country the year that he won the presidency and then again within his first year in the White House.
However, Trump or his companies paid $15,598 in Panama, $145,400 in India and $156,824 in the Philippines, the Times reported.
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During his first two years as president, Trump received $73million from foreign operations, which in addition to his golf properties in Scotland and Ireland included $3million from the Philippines, $2.3million from India and $1million from Turkey.
Trump found multiple ways to reduce his tax bills. He has taken tax deductions on personal expenses such as housing, aircraft and $70,000 to style his hair while he filmed "The Apprentice."
Losses in the property businesses solely owned and managed by Trump appear to have offset income from his stake in "The Apprentice" and other entities with multiple owners.
During the first two years of his presidency, Trump relied on business tax credits to reduce his tax obligations.
The Times said $9.7million worth of business investment credits that were submitted after Trump requested an extension to file his taxes allowed him to reduce his income and pay just $750 each in 2016 and 2017.
Income tax payments help finance the military and domestic programs.
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Trump, starting in 2010, claimed and received an income tax refund that totaled $72.9million, which the Times said was at the core of an ongoing audit by the IRS.
As a result of the refund, Trump paid an average $1.4 million in federal taxes from 2000 to 2017, the Times reported.
By contrast, the average U.S. taxpayer in the top .001 per cent of earners paid about $25 million annually over the same timeframe.
A ruling against the president could cost him $100million, The Times says.
The president could also face mounting financial pressure in the years ahead.
The tax records show he’s carrying a total of $421 million in loans and debt that are primarily due within four years.
Most of that debt comes from the Doral golf resort in Florida ($125 million) and Trump's Washington hotel ($160 million), two properties that the Times said are struggling financially.
Following the publication of the article, Vermont Senator and former presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders took to Twitter, slamming the "shock of shocks!"
"Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed billionaire, received a $72.9 million tax refund from the IRS while not paying a nickel in federal income taxes in 10 out of 15 years. Yep. Trump l-o-v-e-s corporate socialism for himself, rugged capitalism for everyone else," he wrote.
The official Biden campaign, Team Joe, shared 31 second video showing examples of income tax amounts that Americans pay per their profession.
The caption read: "Teachers paid $7,239, Firefighters paid $5,283, Nurses paid $10,216, Donald Trump paid $750."
Biden retweeted the video but has not made a comment himself.
Richard Neal, the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee who has tried unsuccessfully to obtain Trump's tax records, said the Times report makes it even more essential for his committee to get the documents.
"It appears that the President has gamed the tax code to his advantage and used legal fights to delay or avoid paying what he owes," Neal wrote in a statement.
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"Now, Donald Trump is the boss of the agency he considers an adversary. It is essential that the IRS’s presidential audit program remain free of interference."
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