Highlights:
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. According to MSNBC, “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.’” [MSNBC, 1/2/23]
Trump Actually Paid Only $750 In Federal Income Tax In 2017. 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]
Trump Complained About Paying $300 Million In Taxes, Despite His Tax Returns Showing He Paid A Much Lower Amount. According to Raw Story, “Former President Donald Trump used a New York Daily News article about a subway worker stabbed in the neck to bemoan the plight of a tragic victim: himself, a taxpayer made to cough up $300 million. ‘But they go after TRUMP, who paid $300,000,000 plus in Taxes,’ Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday. ‘Businesses are FLEEING New York because of the TRUMP PERSECUTION.’ The subway worker is expected to survive his injuries, which might explain why Trump feels he is the New Yorker to be pitied. But his angry social media leaves one outstanding question — what $300 million? The New York Times famously reported in 2022, after years of Trump refusing to hand over his tax returns, that he had paid $1.1 million during the first three years of his presidency, but just $750 in federal income tax in 2017 and no tax in 2020.” [Raw Story, 3/6/24]
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]
CREW: Trump Made Up To $160 Million In International Business Deals While President. According to the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, “Donald Trump made up to $160 million from international business dealings while he was serving as president of the United States, according to an analysis of his tax returns by CREW.” [Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, 4/13/23]
Trump Made Nearly $10 Million In India. According to the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, “Trump brought in more than $24.4 million from Ireland, home to his often-visited Doonbeg golf course, as well as $9.6 million from India, and nearly $9.7 million from Indonesia.” [Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, 4/13/23]
Trump Made At Least $9.6 Million From Middle Eastern Countries While President. According to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, “Donald Trump made at least $9.6 million from countries in the Middle East during his presidency, according to years of reporting and a CREW analysis of his tax returns. That means Trump pulled in at least six times his official presidential salary in side income from the Middle East alone during his time in office. The total is likely much higher, but public reporting only sheds light on the most high profile instances of profiteering, and he is only required to report certain types of income on his tax returns.” [CREW, 7/27/23]
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]
Trump Made $14 Million From His Indonesian Business Interests From 2015 To 2019. According to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), “Donald Trump made more than a billion dollars while serving as president, including $14 million in income from his business interests in Indonesia from 2015 to 2019, according to a CREW analysis of his tax returns. During that same period, he earned $234 million in total from businesses in foreign countries with interests in U.S. foreign policy.” [CREW, 2/22/23]
2015: Trump Signed A Licensing Agreement For Resorts In Bali And Lido City With Indonesian Conglomerate MNC. According to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), ‘Trump’s business interests in Indonesia date back to 2015, just months after he announced his run for president, when his company signed a licensing agreement for the Indonesian conglomerate MNC to build and manage two developments with Trump-branded elements. Through their work together on the Bali and Lido City resorts, Trump became friends with the businessman behind MNC, Hary Tanoesoedibjo, called Hary Tanoe by the Indonesian media. In the months leading up to the 2016 election, Tanoe introduced the future president to a host of Indonesian politicians and was invited to D.C. in 2017 to attend Trump’s inauguration ceremony. That year was Trump’s most lucrative in terms of his foreign income, according to his tax returns, as he reported $5.7 million in income from Indonesia.” [CREW, 2/22/23]
Trump’s Hotel In Vancouver Made Trump $36.5 Million. According to the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, “Trump’s now-defunct hotel and tower in Vancouver helped him pull in $36.5 million from Canada.” [Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, 4/13/23]
Trump Made $82.5 Million From His Irish And Scottish Business During His Presidency. According to the Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington, “Donald Trump made $82.5 million from his businesses in Ireland and Scotland while serving as president, according to a CREW analysis of his tax returns. All of this revenue came with extraordinary conflicts of interest, mixing Trump’s personal financial interests with the national interests of the United States. Trump raked in over one billion dollars in income during his four years in office, with up to $160 million in total coming from businesses in foreign countries with interest in U.S. foreign policy.” [CREW, 6/5/23]
Trump’s Golf Courses In The UK Made Trump $58 Million. According to the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, “Trump pulled in the most money from the United Kingdom, where his Aberdeen and Turnberry golf courses in Scotland helped him gross $58 million.” [Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, 4/13/23]
Trump Made $24.4 Million In Ireland, Mostly From His Doonbeg Golf Course. According to the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, “Trump brought in more than $24.4 million from Ireland, home to his often-visited Doonbeg golf course, as well as $9.6 million from India, and nearly $9.7 million from Indonesia.” [Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, 4/13/23]
Trump’s Golf Courses In Ireland And Scotland Were Major Liabilities For The Trump Organization. According to the Citizens for Responsibility & Ethics in Washington, “The three properties—all bought in cash deals—are among the biggest liabilities of his empire. While Trump ‘spent more than $300 million in cash purchasing and developing’ Aberdeen and Turnberry, neither has turned a profit and both have hemorrhaged money from the Trump Organization since their purchase. In 2020, Doonbeg reported its first ever operating profit of just €2,939, or roughly $3,240 at the time.” [CREW, 6/5/23]
2015 - 2020: Trump Reported Losing $46.4 Million On Turnberry. According to the Scottish Daily Express, “Donald Trump's tax returns have finally been published revealing the scale of the losses he made at his Scottish golf courses. The former President was forced to release his tax returns on Friday after a lengthy legal battle with the US Senate's House Ways and Means Committee. It obtained Trump's federal income tax returns for the years 2015 to 2020, along with tax records for some of his business entities. The panel also sought the records for when he was president in 2019 and he tried to block the release in court. The property tycoon's financial records showed that his flagship Scottish course made a heavy loss in 2015. Tax returns for Donald J Trump Holdings showed a $12million (£9.9m) loss for Trump Turnberry Scotland. The Turnberry golf course in South Ayrshire lost up to millions of dollars each year until the final year of Trump’s presidency, returns show. Trump paid $63m (£52m) in his 2014 purchase of the property, according to an Independent report at the time. In 2016, the Turnberry resort made a loss of $9.3m (£7.7m) and in 2017 it lost $6m (£5m). In 2018 it lost $4.9m (£4m), $4.6m (£3.8m) in 2019 and a loss of $9.6m (£7.9m) in 2020.” [Scottish Daily Express, 12/31/22]
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 In 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]
CNN: 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]
2015 - 2020: Trump’s Primary Holding Company, DJT Holdings LLC, Lost $313 Million. According to Axios, “Over six years, Trump's primary holding company, known as DJT Holdings LLC, accumulated in excess of $313 million in reported losses. Why it matters: The documents were released by House Democrats on Friday, the culmination of a years-long effort waged by Trump to keep them concealed. By the numbers: During the period covered by the tax returns, DJT Holdings was in the red by tens of millions each year. 2015: -$34,146,723 2016: -$64,497,128 2017: -$57,865,495 2018: -$53,474,978 2019: -$43,637,068 2020: -$59,945,432 In total, Trump's complex business and real estate interests had racked up a staggering cumulative loss of $313,566,824.” [Axios, 12/30/22]
2017: Trump Listed His $25 Million Settlement Over The Trump University Case As A Loss On His Taxes. According to Forbes, “Shortly after winning the 2016 election, Trump agreed to a $25 million settlement to resolve allegations that his for-profit education enterprise was a fraud, wiping out 15% of his estimated annual profit. The good news? He got to list a $25 million loss for Trump University on his tax filings.” [Forbes, 8/5/24]
Trump’s Tax Returns Showed He Missed Out On Millions Of Dollars By Selling Apple And Microsoft Stock In 2017, Years Before Their Value Peaked. According to Newsweek, “Former President Donald Trump claims to be a canny investor and businessman. However, his tax returns show that he sold stock in Apple and Microsoft far too early, missing out on millions of dollars. According to his 2017 tax return, Trump and his wife Melania sold stock in six companies in early 2017, including the tech giants Apple and Microsoft. As the charts below show, post-2017 both tech stocks rose sharply and peaked in 2021-22. Although both companies have seen their valuation fall recently, both are still far above the price that the Trumps sold at.” [Newsweek, 1/15/23]
Trump Made Approximately $800,000 From His Stock Sales, But Could Have Made $5 To $7 Million Had He Waited. According to Newsweek, “Both tech stocks were bought by the Trumps in October 2013, and both gained significantly. The Apple stock was bought for $481,505 and was sold for $833,118, making $351,613, a gain of 73 percent. The Microsoft stock was bought for $248,867, sold in 2017 for $464,558, and made the Trumps $215,691, an 87 percent gain. However, if they had held on, both shareholdings would have been vastly higher. An investment of $481,500 in Apple stock in 2013 would now be worth $4,150,000, making a total profit of $3,669,000. If Trump had held his Microsoft shares, they would now be worth just under $2 million. Selling today, the Trumps would have made a return of over $5 million. This doesn't factor in the peak prices of both stocks. The Trumps could have sold the Apple shares for around $5.1 million in early January 2022, and the Microsoft shares for $2.5 million in November 2021, making a potential gain of over $7 million once dividends are factored in.” [Newsweek, 1/15/23]
Trump Previously Claimed To Have Sold His Apple Stock In 2014, But There Is No Evidence Of A Sale Until 2017. According to Newsweek, “Trump claimed in 2014 that he sold his Apple holdings, saying on Twitter that: ‘I predicted Apple's stock fall based on their dumb refusal to give the option of a larger iPhone screen like Samsung. I sold my Apple stock.’ However, there is no evidence of any sale of Apple stock in 2014 in the tax returns released by the committee. The 2017 tax return shows that the Trumps didn't sell until January 2017.” [Newsweek, 1/15/23]