BOMBSHELL: Trump May Have Avoided Paying Any Federal Income Tax For 18 Years
GOP Nominee Declared $916 Million Loss In 1995, Which Would Have Allowed Him To Earn $50 Million Tax-Free For Nearly Two Decades
The New York Times has obtained portions of Donald Trump’s 1995 income tax returns that indicate he may not have paid any federal income taxes for almost two decades.Â
The three pages from Trump’s tax returns, which were mailed to the NYT by an anonymous source, showed that Trump declared a $916 million loss that year due to “mismanagement of three Atlantic City casinos, his ill-fated foray into the airline business and his ill-timed purchase of the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan,” the newspaper reports.Â
The loss would have allowed Trump to avoid paying federal income taxes on up to $50 million for each of the ensuing 18 years, the NYT notes. One of Trump’s lawyers has already threatened to sue the NYT for publishing the returns, but his campaign appeared to confirm the validity of the newspaper’s report in a statement.Â
“Mr. Trump is a highly-skilled businessman who has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required,†the statement said. “That being said, Mr. Trump has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes, sales and excise taxes, real estate taxes, city taxes, state taxes, employee taxes and federal taxes.â€
Perhaps the most remarkable thing about the NYT‘s scoop is the fact that the person who mailed the pages from Trump’s tax returns to the newspaper listed their return address as Trump Tower.Â
Reaction from Twitter below.Â
It’s coming from inside the building. https://t.co/Y2pvgDk4vE
— DENALI (@timothypmurphy) October 2, 2016
The tax story is a bombshell, but holy crap the story behind the source https://t.co/p0e9MiPmRy pic.twitter.com/nlW3eWlSbU
— Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) October 2, 2016
TRUMP: Who the FUCK leaked this?
COHEN: The calls are coming from inside the house.
TRUMP: Can I waterboard people yet?— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) October 2, 2016
Man, he was a really bad businessman. https://t.co/6IoX20ETmK
— Jon Ralston (@RalstonReports) October 2, 2016
Trump won’t release his taxes because he has cheated the USA by paying nothing his entire life
— Steve Weinstein (@steveweinstein) October 2, 2016
Will @realDonaldTrump now release his more recent returns to prove he did pay taxes?
— Emily Cahn (@CahnEmily) October 2, 2016
Clinton campaign reaction…. https://t.co/OFyqy83AMr
— Josh Haskell (@joshbhaskell) October 2, 2016
Game, set, and match. https://t.co/woOO0PqjS6
— Franklin Foer (@FranklinFoer) October 2, 2016
The Trump paradox is he was dumb enough to lose money running casinos, but smart enough to stick creditors with the vast bulk of the losses.
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) October 2, 2016
Tax laws now favor the rich. Under Trump, not surprisingly, they would favor the rich even more. https://t.co/Yrbykdk9z0
— Josh Greenman (@joshgreenman) October 2, 2016
Enjoy this piece?
… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.
NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.
Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.