This could be dubbed as President Donald Trump’s “Emperor has no Clothes” moment. A potentially explosive New York Times report just released claims Trump paid no income taxes whatsoever in 10 of the past 15 years beginning in 2000.
The Times obtained tax-return data spanning more than two decades for Mr. Trump and the hundreds of companies that make up his Trump organization. This includes detailed information from his first two years in office.
The tax data examined by The Times also provides a road map of sketchy revelations, from write-offs for the cost of a criminal defense lawyer and a mansion used as a family retreat to a full accounting of the millions of dollars the president received from the 2013 Miss Universe pageant in Moscow.
One thing that stands out is that The President paid just $750 in federal income taxes in both the year he won the presidency and his first year in the White House.
In addition, Trump reported losing significantly more money than he made over the years. There is apparently a 10-year-old audit battle with the Internal Revenue Service over the legitimacy of a $72.9 million tax refund that he claimed, and received, after declaring huge losses.
Within the next four years, more than $300 million in loans — obligations for which he is personally responsible — will come due.
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Trump Denies Times’ Findings
At a briefing Sunday, Trump denied the Times piece, claiming he pays “a lot” in federal income taxes.”I pay a lot, and I pay a lot in state income taxes,” Trump said.
The impeached President added that he is willing to release his tax returns once he is no longer under an audit being conducted by the Internal Revenue Service.
“[IRS] treats me badly.” Trump said in the briefing. Legally, he is under no obligation to hold his tax returns while under audit but has been saying that for years.
The President repeatedly refused to answer how much he has paid in federal taxes in the briefing and walked out to shouted questions from CNN’s Jeremy Diamond on the topic.
Trump’s taxes have largely remained in the dark since he announced he was running for the presidency. During the 2016 campaign, Candidate Trump refused to produce his tax returns for public review.
The New York Times said it will not make Trump’s tax-return data public so as not to jeopardize its sources “who have taken enormous personal risks to help inform the public.
Will these new revelations change the minds of the Trumpers out there? Most likely not as they blindly follow him.
Struggling properties. Large write-offs. Audit battles. The Emperor has no clothes. Because he may not be able to afford them.
SOURCE: The Times.
