The president of the united states of America, Donald Trump paid just $750 (£587) in federal income tax both in 2016, the year he ran for the US presidency, and in his first year in the White House, The New York Times has reported.
The publishment states that it obtained tax records for Mr Trump and his companies over two decades and says that he paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years.
The report covered tax returns relating to Trump and the companies owned by the Trump Organization going back to the 1990s, as well as his personal returns for 2016 and 2017. It said the president paid just $750 in income taxes in both 2016 and 2017, while he paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years, “largely because he reported losing much more money than he made”.
To avoid paying tax, “most” of Mr Trump’s biggest businesses – such as his golf courses and hotels – “report losing millions, if not tens of millions, of dollars year after year”.
As usual, Mr Trump has called the report “fake news”.
“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,” he told reporters after the story was published on Sunday. “The IRS [Internal Revenue Service] does not treat me well… they treat me very badly,” he said.
Though it is not required by law, Trump has faced backlash for refusing to share documents concerning his fortune and business. He is the first president since the 1970s not to make his tax returns public.
Trump says the move to report such news days before his first presidential debate with Democratic rival Joe Biden and weeks before the 3 November election is because there is ulterior motive.
The paper also alleges that some of President Trump’s businesses have received money from “lobbyists, foreign officials and others seeking face time, access or favour” from the president.
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