Former President Trump paid around $1 million in taxes throughout his time as president and paid $0 in 2020, according to a report on his tax returns released by the House Ways and Means Committee.
The report also revealed the IRS had started an audit on just one of Trump's tax returns - despite having a longstanding policy of auditing presidents every year. That audit did not begin until April 2019, the same day the committee began poking around for Trump's taxes.
But Trump famously refused to turn over his tax returns in 2016 because he claimed to be under continuous audits (even if he was, it wouldn't preclude him from releasing his tax returns by law).
Democrats obtained Trump's tax returns from 2015 to 2020 weeks ago by court order and voted to release the documents on Tuesday night, marking the pinnacle of a years-long back-and-forth as Trump sought to conceal the mysterious documents.
They asked the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), a nonpartisan office of tax lawyers and economists, to review the documents and released the JCT findings along with their own report on the IRS audit system.
The former president made tens of millions annually during that period, but was able to chip away at his tax bill by carrying over steep business losses from over the years.
From 2015 to 2016, Trump carried over big losses from over the years to pay little relatively little in federal income tax.
In 2015, Trump reported making more than $50 million through income in capital gains, interest, dividends and other earnings. But he reported some $85 million in losses, leaving him at a negative income of $31 million.
He was hit with an alternative minimum tax that year - a tax code provision designed to prevent the wealthy from zeroing their tax bills - and had to pay $641,000.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) and Ranking Member Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) talk after the committee voted to submit their report, including the tax records
Trump reported negative income for the next two years - paying only $750 in federal income tax in 2016 and 2017 - before his fortunes turned around in 2018.
He reported nearly $24.3 million in adjusted gross income in 2018 and paid nearly a million in tax. The following year he was in the black as well, reporting $4.4 million in income and paying $133,445 in tax.
English (United States) ·