President Donald Trump is surrounded by tax returns issues as revealed by The New York Times—detailing only US$750 federal income tax paid on his first two years as POTUS.
The Trump tax returns controversy emerges after The New York Times acquired his “tax-return data” ranging from “over more than two decades.” Accordingly, the renowned publication notes that the information reported was provided by its respective source with “legal access to it.”
However, Trump has already dubbed this news as “FAKE NEWS.”
FAKE NEWS!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 28, 2020
The Trump tax return controversy
In general, the publication reports that Trump only paid a total of $750 in federal tax on the year he won the U.S. election in 2016. He subsequently paid the same amount in 2017—his first year as POTUS.
It was further revealed that Trump did not pay income taxes in “10 of the previous 15 years.” The main reason behind, allegedly, was because he reported “losing much more money than he made.”
As many already know, Trump was wildly known as a big businessman and a property mogul, says BBC. In fact, he ran a business-investing reality show called The Apprentice for a long time.
His reality show is actually what made him apparent to the public before running for the presidency. Per the publication’s report, his reality TV venture, including licensing and endorsement deals brought US$427.4 million to his pockets.
New York Democrat Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) compared Trump’s taxes as a big American businessman to her while she was serving as a bartender in 2017 and 2017.
On Twitter, AOC says she’s paid thousands of dollars in tax as a bartender. She further compared that Trump has “contributed less to funding our communities than waitresses & undocumented immigrants.”
In 2016 & ‘17, I paid thousands of dollars a year in taxes *as a bartender.*
Trump paid $750.
He contributed less to funding our communities than waitresses & undocumented immigrants.
Donald Trump has never cared for our country more than he cares for himself. A walking scam. https://t.co/VZChbp8htu
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 28, 2020
Trump tax returns news: IRS treats him “very badly”
The New York Times further pointed out that the current POTUS and the Internal Revenue Service has been in a decade-long audit battle.
The financial debacle was reportedly rooted in Trump’s $72.9 million tax refund claim, after declaring “huge losses.”
It's great waking up to discover that, according to our tax returns, we all earned MUCH more money than the billionaire Donald Trump for the past decade! I've never felt so successful! pic.twitter.com/AsQvw9muPJ
— Mark Kermode (@KermodeMovie) September 28, 2020
The publication notes that Trump’s “reports to the I.R.S. portray a businessman who takes in hundreds of millions of dollars a year yet racks up chronic losses that he aggressively employs to avoid paying taxes.”
BBC quotes Trump on how the IRS has been treating him, saying:
“The IRS [Internal Revenue Service] does not treat me well… they treat me very badly.”
Furthermore, Trump attempts to defend himself after the news broke on Sunday. He told reporters the following:
“Actually I paid tax. And you’ll see that as soon as my tax returns – it’s under audit, they’ve been under audit for a long time.”
BBC highlights that, although it is not required by law, Trump is actually the “first president since the 1970s not to make his tax returns public.”
.@HillaryClinton: “Why won’t Trump release his tax returns?
Maybe he’s not as rich as he says he is.
He owes $650M to Wall St and foreign banks.
Maybe he doesn’t want the American people to know he’s paid NOTHING in taxes”
— chris evans (@notcapnamerica) September 28, 2020
The Trump Organization lawyer, Alan Garten, has reached out to The New York Times to request the documents which its report is based on. However, the publication denied his request.
Garten instead gave a statement that Trump “has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government, including paying millions in personal taxes since announcing his candidacy in 2015.”
However, the term “personal tax” might be “conflating income taxes with other federal taxes,” per the publication.
Featured image courtesy of Gage Skidmore/Flickr