The last time Donald Trump's tax returns were made public, it was revealed he had paid zero dollars in income taxes to the federal government, The Washington Post reports. The information was included on a 1981 report by New Jersey gambling regulators, which showed that for at least two years in the 1970s, Trump had used a tax-code loophole to report negative income:
State records show that Trump claimed that his combined income in 1978 and 1979 was negative $3.8 million, allowing him to pay no taxes. A few years earlier, he had told The New York Times he was worth more than $200 million.Tax analysts say it is possible that Trump pays very low income taxes, or no taxes at all, using tactics available to wealthy investors and developers, such as depreciating the value of real estate. [The Washington Post]
Trump has defended his privacy regarding his finances as being "none of your business" and is poised to become the first major party presidential nominee in 40 years to refuse to release his returns. By declining to make the information public, it is unknown how much money Trump makes, gives to charity, or how he uses deductions and shelters to squeeze out of paying taxes. Trump has said before that he fights "very hard to pay as little tax as possible."
"At some point, he could be the tax collector-in-chief. He'd supervise the IRS, making sure all of us live up to our own tax responsibilities," tax policy expert Joe Thorndike told The Washington Post. "People deserve to know ... how a person like that plays the game."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Mitt Romney has previously blasted Trump over his hesitation to release financial information, claiming that Trump's returns could very well be hiding "a bombshell of unusual size."
-
Home Depots are the new epicenters of ICE raidsIn the Spotlight The chain has not provided many comments on the ongoing raids
-
Why does Trump keep interfering in the NYC mayoral race?Today's Big Question The president has seemingly taken an outsized interest in his hometown elections, but are his efforts to block Zohran Mamdani about political expediency or something deeper?
-
The pros and cons of banning cellphones in classroomsPros and cons The devices could be major distractions
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to TrumpSpeed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raidsSpeed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raidSpeed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearingSpeed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mountSpeed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own listspeed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battleSpeed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants
