Trump pays only $ 750 in taxes: Here there are his tricks and ruses
The revelations threaten to damage Trump’s repeated claim to be a successful businessman and thus, a capable administrator of the American economy
The American newspaper The New York Times obtained access to the tax information of President Donald Trump during the last two decades. The most alarming revelation is that the billionaire mogul paid just $ 750 in federal income taxes in 2016, when he won the presidency.
Then, in his first year in the White House, he paid another $ 750. In addition, he had not paid any tax in 10 of the previous 15 years, arguing that he lost much more money than he earned.
Trump did not even pay federal income taxes in 11 of the 18 years the newspaper examined. It turns out that under the law, many of his businesses, including his golf courses, “report significant financial losses”.
“Trump’s Taxes Show Chronic Losses and Years of Tax Evasion”, was The Times headline. Trump’s tax returns have long been the “holy grail” of American political information.
The Times obtained the tax return data from hundreds of companies that make up his organization, including detailed information from his first two years as president. It does not include his personal returns for 2018 or 2019. This is information that Trump has disclosed to the Treasury and not the findings of an independent financial review. The newspaper said it would not publish the documents to protect its source.
The publication is one of the biggest bombs in an electoral campaign already hit by a series of scandals, a bitter fight for a nomination to the Supreme Court and a pandemic that adds more than seven million infected and more than 200 thousand deaths.
Furthermore, the revelations threaten to damage Trump’s repeated claim to be a successful businessman and thus, a capable administrator of the American economy.
At the moment, from the White House, Trump makes wild accusations about plots against him, blames Joe Biden and describes the report as “totally false news”.
We will detail the six most shocking points of the report, collected by The Guardian:
Trump pays few “taxes”
Trump did not pay federal income taxes in 11 of the 18 years the newspaper analyzed. In 2017, after becoming president, his tax bill was just $ 750, while a year later he repeated the figure.
For example, according to the American newspaper, Trump’s immediate predecessors, Barack Obama and George W. Bush, “each paid more than $ 100,000 a year” approximately.
A very long “audit”
Trump is involved in a decade-long audit with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for a $ 72.9 million tax refund he claimed and received after declaring huge losses. But, a judgment against him could cost him more than $ 100 million.
According to The Times, “In 2011, the IRS initiated an audit to review the legitimacy of the refund. Almost a decade later, the case remains unsolved for unknown reasons and could end up in federal court, where it could become a matter of public domain.
Trump’s companies “lose money”
The Times was lethal in its assessment of Trump’s dealings, which the mogul often boasts about. Even based on his business, he always seeks to promote a carefully selected image as a “business master”.
According to the report, Trump’s top companies, from his golf courses to his hotel chains, report losing tens of millions of dollars year after year.
Since 2000, Trump has reported losses of more than $ 315 million at his golf courses, including Trump National Doral in Florida. Meanwhile, his hotel in Washington, which opened in 2016 and is the subject of much speculation regarding federal ethics laws, has lost more than $ 55 million.
Trump has a “big bill to pay”
The newspaper also reported that Trump is facing a significant financial bill. It turns out that hundreds of millions of dollars in loans will mature in the next four years and he is personally responsible for many of those obligations.
“In the 1990s Trump almost went bankrupt by personally guaranteeing hundreds of millions of dollars in loans. Since then, he says he regrets having done it. But his tax records show that he took the same steps again, and appears to be responsible for loans totaling $ 421 million, most of which are due in four years”.
In that vein, The Times speculated: “If he were to win reelection, his lenders could be placed in the unprecedented position of weighing the foreclosure of a sitting president”.
Ivanka “helps” him reduce his tax burden
The president’s eldest daughter, Ivanka, worked for years as an employee of the Trump Organization. Apparently the “consulting fees” she received helped reduce the family’s tax bill.
This revelation could further tarnish the reputation of Ivanka, a high-ranking White House adviser married to another adviser, Jared Kushner. Ivanka often tries to distance herself from the biggest scandals of her father’s administration — according to experts — because she harbors her own political ambitions.
The Times reported: “Private records show that his company once paid $ 747,622 in fees to an unidentified consultant for hotel projects. Ivanka’s public disclosure forms, which she submitted when she joined the White House staff in 2017, show that she had received an identical amount through a consulting firm in which she was a co-owner of said firm.
His companies “benefit” from his position
The question of whether Trump’s companies benefit from his position in the White House is one of the long-running themes of the reports. “Since he became a presidential candidate, he has received large amounts of money from foreign lobbyists, politicians and officials, who pay to stay on his properties or join his clubs”.
So, according to the research, the global nature of the Trump Organization and its portfolio of hotels, resorts and other interests leaves it open to speculation that lobbyists, business leaders and foreign powers could spend money on them to try to sell influence in the United States.
What was the president’s reaction?
After the report was published, the president expressed at a press conference: “The New York Times tried, it wants to create a little history. They are doing everything they can. That is the least. The stories I read are so false, they are so false”.
A reporter asked him why a billionaire paid just a few hundred dollars in 2016. Trump answered and insisted: “First of all, I paid a lot and I also paid a lot of state income taxes. New York State charges a lot and I paid a lot of money in the state. Everything will be revealed. It will come out, but after the audit”.
The New York Times promises more revelations
For its part, the New York newspaper promised more stories in the coming weeks. “The tax returns that Trump has long fought to keep private tell a fundamentally different story than the one he sells to the public”.
“While declaring losses, he managed to enjoy a luxurious lifestyle by taking tax deductions on (…) personal expenses, including residences, airplanes and $ 70,000 in hairdressing for television”, says The Times.
The newspaper added that “over the past two decades, Trump has paid about $ 400 million less in federal taxes”. That compared to what a person of the same status paid, on average, in the same years.
On this subject, Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, told The Times that “most, if not all, of the facts appear to be inaccurate”. “Over the past decade, President Trump has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government”.
However, The Times report based on official documents reflects otherwise. In addition, the newspaper noted that these “personal taxes” appeared to cover other federal taxes, including social security and Medicare.
Amid the controversy, Trump will face Joe Biden at the polls on November 3. Meanwhile, he continues to resist demands from political opponents and the media that require him to release decades of tax information. He is the first president since the 1970s to keep his tax returns hidden.
