Donald Trump’s tax records show he is carrying a total of $421 million in loans and debt with a number of his properties said to be struggling financially.
In a Sunday report, dismissed by the president as ‘fake news,’ The New York Times said most of that debt comes from the Doral golf resort in Florida – $125 million – and Trump’s Washington hotel – $160 million. On top of that, a $100 million mortgage on Trump Tower in New York will come due in 2022.
Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in both 2016 and 2017, after years of reporting heavy losses from his business enterprises to offset hundreds of millions of dollars in income, the Times reported, citing tax-return data.
The Republican found multiple ways to reduce his tax bills, taking tax deductions on personal expenses such as housing, aircraft and $70,000 to style his hair while he filmed ‘The Apprentice.’ A nearly $100,000 payment to daughter Ivanka’s favorite hair and makeup stylist was also listed as a business expense.
The report also suggests ‘consulting fees’ were given to the president’s eldest daughter, which appear to have helped lowered the family’s tax bill.
Trump has fiercely guarded his tax filings and is the only president in modern times not to make them public. He paid no federal income taxes in 10 of the past 15 years through 2017, despite receiving $427.4 million through 2018 from his reality television program and other endorsement and licensing deals.
Losses in the property businesses solely owned and managed by Trump appear to have offset income from his stake in ‘The Apprentice’ and other entities with multiple owners.
A lawyer for the Trump Organization, Alan Garten, told the Times that ‘most, if not all, of the facts appear to be inaccurate.’ He said in a statement to the news organization that the president ‘has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government, including paying millions in personal taxes since announcing his candidacy in 2015.’
Donald Trump’s tax records show he is carrying a total of $421 million in loans and debt with a number of his properties said to be struggling financially
The report also suggests ‘consulting fees’ were given to the president’s eldest daughter Ivanka, pictured, which appear to have helped lowered the family’s tax bill
The details of the tax filings complicate Trump’s description of himself as a shrewd and patriotic businessman, revealing instead a series of financial losses and income from abroad that could come into conflict with his responsibilities as president.
Trump’s financial disclosures indicated he earned at least $434.9 million in 2018, but the tax filings reported a $47.4 million loss.
The disclosure, which the Times said comes from tax return data it obtained extending over two decades, comes at a pivotal moment ahead of the first presidential debate Tuesday and weeks before a divisive election against Democrat Joe Biden.
The Times emphasized the documents reveal only what Trump told the government about his businesses, and did not disclose his true wealth. It did not have information about his personal returns from 2018 or 2019.
Trump has frequently pointed to his far-flung hotels, golf courses and resorts as evidence of his success as a developer and businessman. Yet these properties have been been draining money.
The Times reported that Trump has claimed $315 million in losses since 2000 on his golf courses, including the Trump National Doral near Miami, which Trump has portrayed as a crown jewel in his business empire. Likewise, his Trump International Hotel in Washington has lost $55 million, the Times reported.
Since 2015, his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida has taken in $5 million more a year from a surge in membership.
The Billy Graham Evangelistic Association spent at least $397,602 in 2017 at Trump’s Washington hotel. Overseas projects have produced millions more for Trump — $3 million from the Philippines, $2.3 million from India and $1 million from Turkey.
Speaking at a news conference Sunday at the White House, Trump dismissed the report as ‘fake news’ and maintained he has paid taxes, though he gave no specifics.
He also vowed that information about his taxes ‘will all be revealed,’ but he offered no timeline for the disclosure and made similar promises during the 2016 campaign on which he never followed through.
In fact, the president has fielded court challenges against those seeking access to his returns, including the U.S. House, which is suing to get Trump’s tax returns as part of congressional oversight.
He is currently in a legal battle with New York City prosecutors and congressional Democrats who are seeking to obtain his returns.
In a Sunday report, dismissed by the president as ‘fake news,’ The New York Times said most of that debt comes from the Doral golf resort in Florida, pictured – $125 million – and Trump’s Washington hotel – $160 million
Trump’s Washington hotel, pictured, is said to be struggling financially
During his first two years as president, Trump received $73 million from foreign operations, which in addition to his golf properties in Scotland and Ireland included $3 million from the Philippines, $2.3 million from India and $1 million from Turkey, among other nations.
The president in 2017 paid $145,400 in taxes in India and $156,824 in the Philippines, compared to just $750 in U.S. income taxes. The Times said the tax records did not reveal any unreported connections to Russia.
During the first two years of his presidency, Trump relied on business tax credits to reduce his tax obligations.
The Times said $9.7 million worth of business investment credits that were submitted after Trump requested an extension to file his taxes allowed him to offset his obligations and pay just $750 each in 2016 and 2017.
Income tax payments help finance the military and domestic programs.
Trump, starting in 2010, claimed and received an income tax refund that totaled $72.9 million, which the Times said was at the core of an ongoing audit by the IRS. The Times said a ruling against Trump could cost him $100 million or more.
The Republican found multiple ways to reduce his tax bills, taking tax deductions on personal expenses such as housing, aircraft and $70,000 to style his hair while he filmed The Apprentice
A nearly $100,000 payment to daughter Ivanka’s favorite hair and makeup stylist was also listed as a business expense. Trump is pictured with Ivanka and son Don Jr.
Richard Neal, D-Mass., the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee who has tried unsuccessfully to obtain Trump’s tax records, said the Times report makes it even more essential for his committee to get the documents.
‘It appears that the President has gamed the tax code to his advantage and used legal fights to delay or avoid paying what he owes,’ Neal wrote in a statement. ‘Now, Donald Trump is the boss of the agency he considers an adversary. It is essential that the IRS’s presidential audit program remain free of interference.’
The New York Times said it declined to provide Garten with the tax filings in order to protect its sources, but it said its sources had legal access to the records.
During his first general election debate against Democrat Hillary Clinton in 2016, Clinton said that perhaps Trump wasn’t releasing his tax returns because he had paid nothing in federal taxes.
Trump interrupted her to say, ‘That makes me smart.’