Paid no income tax in 2020 – NRK Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
Time was running out. In a few days, the Republicans will take over the House of Representatives, which the Democrats have controlled since Joe Biden became president.
Now the document, which shows the self-reports of Trump (76) from 2015 to 2020, available to the public.
The tax returns comprise 6,000 pages, of which 2,700 are individual documents from Trump and his wife Melania, and 3,000 are from his businesses.
Some personal information has been redacted, such as Trump’s social security number.
The documents show that the couple did not pay more than $750 in federal income tax in 2016 and 2017.
In his last year in the White House, when Trump lost the election, he paid no taxes at all. This was as a result of declining income and large financial losses.
Trump reported a loss of 4.8 million dollars this year, and no income tax, while the country was ravaged by the corona pandemic.
In contrast, he reported $24.3 million in gross income and paid nearly $1 million in federal taxes the year before, in 2018.
This increase in income came largely from the sale of property and investments for 22 million dollars.
Break with tradition
Since Jimmy Carter’s time, it has been common for American presidents to publish their voluntary self-reports. Several vice-presidents have chosen to do the same.
However, there is no law that states that presidents or presidential candidates must disclose this information.
Trump refused to publish his, both as presidential candidate and president, and has fought for the information he has provided to the tax authorities to continue to be private.
The tax returns that have emerged do not seem to reveal any criminal sources for his wealth, something several opponents have claimed.
The core business itself has suffered major losses. Even so, Trump has enjoyed large revenues from his reality TV show, “The Apprentice,” and other ventures with his brand name.
He has also had a stable income from a property partnership.
One strategy he has used to reduce tax was to carry forward losses from one year to the next as a deduction.
The background is a loss he reported of 700 million dollars in 2009. The IRS is said to be in the process of investigating whether that loss was legitimate.
In addition to this, the document shows a number of deductions that are not documented.
Among these are transfers to the three children listed as gifts, and millions in deductions on a property in one of New York’s suburbs.
Trump: – A terrible abuse of power
In a campaign video on the Truth Social platform, Trump responded to the committee’s decision last week. He calls it a “terrible abuse of power” and “completely contrary to the constitution”.
– There is no legitimate basis for their actions. If you look at what they have done, it is so sad for our country, he said further.
– There is nothing other than a mindless political witch hunt that has been going on since the day I got off the elevator in Trump Tower.
Trump also claimed that the Democrats had gained access to these documents illegally, and then leaked them to the public. This is not true.
Republican Kevin Brady, who is also a member of the committee, is also critical of publication.
He calls according to NBC the publication of the document as an act “unprecedented”, and says it will “put at stake the right of every American to be protected against targeted political attacks from Congress”.
Has not been checked for two years
The battle over self-reports has been going on in the American legal system for several years, and was taken as far as the Supreme Court.
There it was decided that the committee was allowed to publish the document, if they agreed on it.
Ten days ago, the committee published reports dealing with Trump’s finances.
They had discovered that Trump was not investigated by the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS), as all US presidents must, the first in the years he was president.
The IRS also did not start with this until the Democrats demanded access to the self-reports in 2019, according to the reports. The Democrats believe this may be due to illegal political influence.
– Our results turned out to be simple – the IRS did not start the mandated control of the former president until I submitted my original request, says Representative Richard E. Neal from Massachusetts, who heads the committee.
It was therefore one year after this money was claimed that Trump did not pay any income tax.
The committee in the House of Representatives confirms that the IRS is examining his tax returns from before he became president. This can still lead to millions of dollars in back taxes.
– Came in the count’s time
If the Democrats did not publish the information now, they probably would not have been allowed to do so, believes US expert Sofie Høgestøl.
– They got this here in the count’s time. If the courts had spent more time dealing with this here, they would probably no longer have a majority.
– Part of the problem for the Democrats is that they have built up an expectation that there would be something clear that he would have to hide in these tax returns.
They do not seem to uncover any criminal source of income.
Nevertheless, Høgestøl says that the self-reports have been important for many, if only to show financial transparency. For some, but not for all.
– What was very clear in 2016 was that his supporters did not care that much about these tax returns. It was his political opponents who did it.
This also does not apply to loopholes Trump seems to have used to pay less tax, and is now being investigated by the IRS.
– He has used a number of tax rules here to depreciate and actually tax much less.
– I don’t think any of his followers are surprised by the fact that a rich man like Trump plans taxes. I think some will think: “He has been a smart businessman. Of course, he has found ways to tax less.”