Trump Paid No Federal Income Tax In 2020. According to the New York Times, “In his first three years as president, Donald J. Trump paid $1.1 million in federal income taxes before paying no tax as his income dwindled and losses once again mounted in 2020, according to tax data released Tuesday by a House committee. The data, which includes details of Mr. Trump’s federal tax returns from 2015 through his full term in the White House, shows that he began his presidency suffering the sort of large business losses that had defined much of his career and paid almost nothing in income tax. But his fortunes changed in 2018, as he reported $24.3 million in adjusted gross income and paid nearly $1 million in federal tax. Mr. Trump’s tax returns show that he was in the black the following year as well, reporting $4.4 million in income and paying $133,445 in tax. But in 2020, as the country staggered under the coronavirus pandemic, his finances reversed course: Mr. Trump reported a loss of $4.8 million and zero income tax.” [New York Times, 12/21/22]
When Asked About His Federal Income Taxes, Trump Said In A 2020 Presidential Debate That He Paid “Millions Of Dollars” In 2017, But He Actually Paid $750. According to MSNBC, “Trump lied about this tax bill: During a presidential debate in 2020, Chris Wallace asked Trump how much he paid in taxes in 2017. ‘Millions of dollars,’ the Republican responded. When the moderator sought clarification, asking whether he actually paid $750, the sitting president was adamant, adding, ‘Millions of dollars. And you’ll get to see it. And you’ll get to see it.’ Now that we’ve seen his returns, we know that he did, in fact, pay $750.” [MSNBC, 1/2/23]
2015 To 2020: Trump Claimed Negative Income In Four Of Six Years. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Donald and Melania Trump reported negative income in four of the six years from 2015 through 2020 and little or no income-tax liability for several years, according to tax documents released by a House committee.” [Wall Street Journal, 12/21/22]
2015 To 2020: Trump Paid $750 Or Less In Federal Income Taxes Three Of Six Years. According to the Wall Street Journal, “The Trumps paid some form of federal taxes every year, but they reported income-tax liability of $750 or less in three of the six years, documents released by the House Ways and Means Committee showed. The couple’s adjusted gross income totaled negative $53.2 million during that period.” [Wall Street Journal, 12/21/22]
2015: Trump: “I Am Totally Giving Up My Salary If I Become President.” According to the New York Times, “As a presidential candidate in 2015, Mr. Trump said he would not take ‘even one dollar’ of the $400,000 salary that comes with the job. ‘I am totally giving up my salary if I become president,’ he said. In his first three years in office, Mr. Trump said he donated his salary quarterly.” [New York Times, 12/30/22]
2020: Trump Reported $0 In Charitable Giving. According to the New York Times, “But in 2020, his last full year in office, the documents show that Mr. Trump reported $0 in charitable giving.” [New York Times, 12/30/22]
Trump Held Foreign Bank Accounts In China, Ireland, And The UK During His Presidency. According to the BBC, “The documents also show that Mr Trump, who had international business dealings, held bank accounts in Ireland, the United Kingdom and China for a period that ran from 2015-17. The overseas accounts were notable, as Mr Trump held the White House in 2017, giving him significant power over US foreign policy. From 2018 onward, Mr Trump only reported having an account in the UK.” [BBC, 12/30/22]
2015-2017: Trump’s Tax Filings Said He Held A Bank Account In China. According to the BBC, “The documents also show that Mr Trump, who had international business dealings, held bank accounts in Ireland, the United Kingdom and China for a period that ran from 2015-17. The overseas accounts were notable, as Mr Trump held the White House in 2017, giving him significant power over US foreign policy. From 2018 onward, Mr Trump only reported having an account in the UK.” [BBC, 12/30/22]
October 2020: Trump Lawyer Alan Garten Told The New York Times That The Chinese Bank Account “Remains Open.” According to the New York Times, “In response to questions from The Times, Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, said the company had ‘opened an account with a Chinese bank having offices in the United States in order to pay the local taxes’ associated with efforts to do business there. He said the company had opened the account after establishing an office in China ‘to explore the potential for hotel deals in Asia.’ ‘No deals, transactions or other business activities ever materialized and, since 2015, the office has remained inactive,’ Mr. Garten said. ‘Though the bank account remains open, it has never been used for any other purpose.’” [New York Times, 10/20/20]
Trump Claimed During A Presidential Debate That He Shut Down His Chinese Bank Account Before Running For President In 2016. According to a column by Timothy O’Brien in Bloomberg, “The tax records released last week indicate that Trump had foreign bank accounts in China, Britain, Ireland, and St. Martin. The amount of money held in those accounts wasn’t detailed. Trump had the bank account in China in 2015, 2016 and 2017 even though he claimed during a presidential debate that he shut it before embarking on his 2016 presidential bid.” [Bloomberg – Column, 1/3/23]
2020: Trump Made $78 Million In Foreign Income From 16 Counties. According to MSNBC, “Trump benefited from foreign income: NBC News’ report added, in reference to Friday’s disclosure, ‘The returns show that in the 2020 tax year, Donald and Melania Trump reported $78 million in gross income from 16 foreign countries — including the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland and St. Martin, where Trump has properties. The gross income also included a reported $1.2 million from ‘other countries’ — abbreviated as ‘OC’ — that were not specified. In 2017, Trump’s first year in office, he also made $6.5 million from China, the returns show. The source of the China payments is not clear from the returns.’” [MSNBC, 1/2/23]
2017: Trump Made $6.5 Million In Foreign Income From China. According to MSNBC, “Trump benefited from foreign income: NBC News’ report added, in reference to Friday’s disclosure, ‘The returns show that in the 2020 tax year, Donald and Melania Trump reported $78 million in gross income from 16 foreign countries — including the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland and St. Martin, where Trump has properties. The gross income also included a reported $1.2 million from ‘other countries’ — abbreviated as ‘OC’ — that were not specified. In 2017, Trump’s first year in office, he also made $6.5 million from China, the returns show. The source of the China payments is not clear from the returns.’” [MSNBC, 1/2/23]
2017: Trump Paid More In Foreign Taxes Than In Federal Income Tax. According to CNN, “The returns also show that Trump paid more in foreign taxes than in US federal income taxes in 2017, the first year of his presidency. In 2017, Trump paid just $750 in US federal income taxes because of large carry-forward losses that he claimed in prior years, negating virtually all of his American tax liability. Yet Trump paid nearly $1 million in taxes to foreign countries that year.” [CNN, 12/30/22]
2018: Trump Claimed Paying $1.3 Million In Foreign Taxes On Filing. According to Politico, “Trump didn’t pay much U.S. tax in the returns examined — just $1.8 million over the six-year period. But in 2018 he claimed a foreign tax credit for paying $1.3 million to other governments. People can claim a credit for paying levies elsewhere, something that’s designed to spare people from having to pay taxes twice on the same dollar. The question here is whether those are legit. The IRS should be asking to see the receipts, says JCT. ‘We would recommend requesting receipts for foreign tax payments to countries with the largest amounts making up the foreign tax credit,’ the agency said. ‘Verification of the foreign tax payments made will ensure that the eligible amounts are being claimed as a credit.’” [Politico, 12/22/22]
JCT Said Trump’s Loans To His Children Could Be Disguised Gifts. According to CNN, “Trump’s returns also show the former president made several claims that auditors may question. The Joint Committee on Taxation, which reviewed the returns, flagged that Trump claimed a large number of questionable items on his tax returns, including eyebrow-raising amounts of interest he claims to have received from loans to his children that the bipartisan committee said could indicate Trump was disguising gifts. The JCT argued that an auditor should investigate the loan agreements Trump made with his children, including the interest rates. If the interest Trump claims to have charged his children was not at market rate, for example, it could be considered a gift for tax purposes, requiring him to pay a higher tax rate on the money. In each year of his presidency, for example, Trump claimed he received exactly $18,000 in interest on a loan he said he gave his daughter Ivanka Trump and $8,715 in interest from his son Donald Trump, Jr.. In 2017 to 2019, Trump said he received exactly $24,000 from his son Eric Trump, and Eric paid him $19,605 in interest in 2020. That raises the question of whether ‘the loans were bona fide arm’s length transactions, or whether the transfers were disguised gifts that could trigger gift tax and a disallowance of interest deductions by the related borrowers,’ the JCT said in its report. ‘It’s unusual to have interest in round numbers – very rare,’ said Martin Sheil, former supervisory special agent for IRS’ Criminal Investigation unit. ‘An auditor would want to see payments, loan agreements and interest rates.’” [CNN, 12/30/22]
Trump’s Helicopter Company Reported Identical Amounts Of Income And Expenses. According to CNN, “There are also questions about Trump’s returns listing an identical amount of company expenses and income. For example, in 2017, Trump claimed his business DJT Aerospace LLC, which operates Trump’s personal helicopter, claimed $42,965 in income. It also claimed the exact same amount – $42,965 – in expenses. In other words, every single dollar – to the dollar – that the company earned was negated by the company’s expenses, such as payroll, fuel and other items. That left the company with zero income – and nothing to tax. ‘Total expenses equaling total income is a statistical impossibility,’ said Shiel, who added that the figures are not evidence something illegal was done. ‘It just doesn’t happen.’” [CNN, 12/30/22]