A bombshell report by the New York Times, published two weeks ago, exposed that Donald Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency and also his first year in office. He “…paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years–largely because he reported losing much more money than he made,” according to the New York Times article.
The article also claimed, through documentation provided by sources with legal access, that Trump was “…personally responsible for loans and other debts totaling $421 million, with most of it coming due within four years.”
Trump could imaginably declare this debt as part of his financial losses in the future, like he has in the past, to keep his federal tax bill continuously low.
Despite paying almost no taxes in the United States, Trump did pay a combined $317,822 in taxes for his overseas companies in Panama, India and the Philippines.
In 2019, a Times investigation found that while Trump touts himself as a self-made billionaire, he received at least $413 million in today’s dollars from his father. Much of that money was also made through tax dodges.
This information has sparked a multitude of reactions from supporters and critics alike. Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, said, “Most, if not all, of the facts appear to be inaccurate.”
An anonymous former Trump supporter wrote for the Boston Globe saying, “He has aggressively manipulated those losses to reduce or negate his federal income tax payments. For 10 of the 15 years previous to 2016, he paid no federal income tax at all.” The author also wrote, “Trump didn’t drain the swamp. His administration has been a bonanza for industry insiders and politically connected opportunists.”
In a 2016 presidential debate against Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Trump openly bragged that his capacity to get by without paying taxes “…makes [him] smart.”
Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif), brought up Trump’s taxes and debts during her debate last week against Vice President Mike Pence. She said, “Donald Trump owes and is in debt $400 million. And just so everyone is clear, when you say in debt, it means you owe money to somebody.”
Harris also touched on his $750 federal tax contribution saying, “When I first heard about it, I literally said, ‘You mean $750,000?’”
According to an article from Business Insider, the most common national adjusted gross income is between $50,000 and $75,000, and those individuals paid an average annual income tax of $4,688.
In Sonoma County, the average household income was approximately $101,449 in 2019, so the standard household paid $8,800 in federal taxes that year. The average Sonoma County resident paid $8,050 more than the President in taxes during 2019.
Santa Rosa City Council member Chris Rogers said, “I think the tax code benefits the people who write it, and that doesn’t mean middle class folks in our community. The President is the poster child for a broken and inequitable system.”
Just last week, Trump was the topic of media coverage for his contraction of COVID-19 and a hospital stay at Walter Reed Medical Center. A popular tweet criticised his ability to have access to top-of-the-line free medical care, while not contributing tax dollars. The tweet, by Adam Burke, said, “The President is going to show us all how easy it is to beat this disease and all you need is a private helicopter, 12 of the best doctors in the world, and every single drug available at a moment’s notice.” Walter Reed Medical Center is a United States military medical center run by federal taxpayer dollars.
The new tax information presented by the New York Times is sure to shake up what is an already divisive election. The Times indicated it would be releasing more articles and information in the coming weeks. It is assumed that they strategically timed this to coincide with the highly contentious 2020 election only 3 weeks away, to make the most political impact.
