Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Trump's tax returns reveal president's foreign bank accounts

Newly released tax returns for former President Donald Trump have shed light on his business losses, complicated tax set-ups and tax payments during his White House years. The former president's returns showed big losses, complicated business set-ups and no taxes paid in 2020.

However, they are unlikely to have a major political impact as he eyes another presidential run, experts say.

The documents confirmed that Mr Trump paid no federal taxes in 2020 and only $750 (£622) in 2016 and 2017.

He paid close to $1m in 2018, however.

A long legal battle led to the release of the records, and Mr Trump criticised the disclosure, warning that it will deepen the US political divide.

He added that the returns "show how proudly successful I have been and how I have been able to use depreciation and various other tax deductions as an incentive for creating thousands of jobs and magnificent structures and enterprises."

Although there's no law requiring it, it is tradition for presidents to publish their tax returns.

US presidents are paid a salary like any worker, but many also earn income from their personal businesses and investments.

The newly released documents include tax returns and related documents for Donald Trump, the Donald J Trump Revocable Trust and seven corporate entities.

They represent only a fraction of the former president's over 400 separate business interests.

Previously released figures show that Mr Trump paid a total of $1.1m (£906,587) in federal income taxes from 2016 to 2019, all but $1,500 of which was paid in one year. He paid no taxes in 2020, the final year of his presidency.

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.

The records also show that the Internal Revenue Service - the US federal entity responsible for collecting taxes - did not audit Mr Trump during the first years of his presidency, only beginning in 2019 after Democrats sought to gain access to his tax records.

The finding led to criticism from Democrats. Don Beyer, a member of the committee that oversaw the record release, said that the IRS' auditing system was broken and that "Congress has so much work to do to make tax enforcement in this country fairer."

In a memo cited in an earlier report, the IRS noted that "it is not possible to obtain the resources available to examine all potential issues" associated with Mr Trump's hundreds of business interests.

Maryanne Monforte, a professor of accounting practices at Syracuse University, said the tax returns represent a quagmire even for professionals.

"He's the quintessential businessman and he's got his hands in everything," she said. "He started out in real estate, and that creates a level of complexity between valuations, revenues, losses and depreciation. That all means his return has an added layer of complexity that you might not see with other billionaires."


Does releasing the tax records matter?

However, experts from both sides of the US political spectrum believe that the returns will have little impact on Mr Trump's popularity among his core supporters.

"It won't matter what was in there at all, short of anything that would be a clear legal violation," said Doug Heye, a former Republican National Committee spokesman.

"There's no Trump supporter who's going to say 'oh, I can't vote for him now'," he said. "Even though we haven't seen Trump's taxes, we've been through this before. This isn't changing anyone's minds."

"Trump voters aren't going to be moved by anything," said Democratic strategist Ameshia Cross.

For them, "Quite frankly, I don't think this matters," she said, though undecided voters - or Republicans seeking an alternative to Mr Trump - may perceive the documents as showing that his business acumen "wasn't actually what he was making it out to be".

"That would mean that the entire campaign that he ran on was basically a lie," she said. "This showcases something that he had been trying to hide for years."


How much taxes have other presidents paid - and how does Trump compare?

In some years, Mr Trump paid a far smaller proportion of his income than other recent presidents. In 2018, he and his wife earned $24.3m in adjusted gross income. But he paid just under $1m, giving him a tax rate of just 4.1%. In America, spouses file together.

In other years, because he reported huge business losses, Mr Trump's tax burden was actually greater than what he earned on paper. For example, in 2017, he lost money but still paid taxes.

In comparison, Barack Obama and his wife Michelle Obama's taxable income peaked in 2009, when they took home $5.5m, and paid about 30% in taxes. Most of their income came from the sales of Mr Obama's two books, Dreams from My Father and Audacity of Hope.

As his book sales dwindled, Mr Obama's taxable income declined considerably - in 2015, the couple earned just $447,880, almost all from his presidential salary, and paid about 18% of their income to the IRS.

George W Bush did not write his presidential biography until after he left office - while he was president, he and his wife Laura Bush averaged an income of about $800,000 a year. About half came from salaries, and the other half came from interest and investments. They had an average tax rate of 27.8%.

Bill Clinton and his wife Hillary Clinton started off in 1992 making just under $300,000 a year, mostly from salaries, and paying 23.6% of their income to tax. In 1996, Mrs Clinton's book helped the couple earn over $1m, but their tax rate actually declined to 18.5%.

Comments

Oh ya 2 year ago
Who cares what he made what should concern people is that he us still promoting the clot shot when the life insurance industry is saying it is killing a extra 2400 people a day over average daily US deaths and crippling 5000 a day. Think about that in 12 years in Vietnam America lost 60.000 and now you are losing 2400 a day. So you will lose in a month what took 12 years in Vietnam. And Trump was still bragging the other day about his great clot shot. He has mental health issues or a ego that is larger than life

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Israel Warns France of Iranian Threats at Paris Olympics
EU Approves €4.2 Billion Payment to Kiev
Olaf Scholz to Run for German Chancellor Again in 2025
EU Relocates Summit to Punish Hungary over Orban's Ukraine Visit
World's Hottest Day Recorded on July 21
President Biden Returns to White House After Testing COVID Negative
Thousands Protest in Mallorca Against Mass Tourism
Hacking Vulnerabilities: Androids vs. iPhones
Ukraine Crisis Should Be EU's Responsibility, Says Trump’s Envoy
Joe Biden Withdraws from 2024 US Presidential Race
A Week of Turmoil: Key Moments in US Politics
Erdogan Challenges NATO Stance at 75th Anniversary Meeting
Hungary's Orban Shakes Up EU Leadership
German National Sentenced to Death in Belarus
Elon Musk's Companies Drop CrowdStrike After Global Windows 10 Outage
Trump Pledges to End Ukraine Conflict if Reelected
Global IT Outage Unveils Digital Vulnerabilities
US Criticizes International Court's Opinion on Israeli Occupation
EU’s Patronizing Attitude Towards Africa Revealed
Ukraine to Receive First One and a Half Billion Dollars of Seized Russian Funds
Netanyahu Denounces World Court Ruling on Israeli Occupation
Massive Flight Cancellations Across the U.S. Due to Microsoft Outage
Russia Accuses Ukraine of Using Chemical Weapons
Ursula von der Leyen Wins Second Term as European Commission President
Police Officer Injured in Attack in Central Paris
Record Heat Temperatures in Ukraine Amid Power Crisis
Japan to Allocate $3.3 Billion to Ukraine Using Frozen Russian Assets
EU Parliament Condemns Hungarian PM's Russia Visit
FBI Struggles to Find Motive Behind Trump Shooting Incident
Kremlin Criticizes EU Rejection of Orban’s Ukraine Peace Proposal
Russia's Electronic Warfare Neutralizes Western Weapons in Ukraine
Trump Challenges Biden to Debate and Golf Match
Macron Accuses Israeli Minister of Election Interference
US Senator Highlights Weaknesses in Western Military Industry During Ukraine Conflict
George Clooney Urges Biden to Withdraw from Presidential Race
Political Shift in the UK: A Detailed Analysis of Labour's Victory and Future Prospects
Viktor Orbán's Peace Mission: A Diplomatic Controversy in the EU
India Advocates Peace and Prosperity: PM Modi's Speech in Austria
New UK PM Keir Starmer Reaffirms Strong Support for Ukraine at NATO Summit
Spain PM Pedro Sanchez Denounces Double Standards on Gaza at NATO Summit
Sunita Williams Safe on ISS, to Address Earth on July 10
Biden Affirms Commitment To Presidential Race
France Faces Political Turmoil and Airport Strikes Ahead of Paris Olympics 2024
Putin Hosts PM Modi for a Private Meeting
Boeing Pleads Guilty Over 737 MAX Crashes
2024 Predicted to Be World's Hottest Year
White House Denies Biden Being Treated for Parkinson's Disease
Biden to Meet New UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer
Biden Insists on Continuing Presidential Race Amid Criticism
UK Defence Minister Pledges Enhanced Support to Ukraine
×