Washington: Democrats on Sunday renewed calls for President Donald Trump’s tax records to be released following a New York Times report showing he has not paid taxes in 10 of the last 15 years through 2017.
Calls for Trump to release his tax records began when he flaunted the longstanding practice of presidential candidates to disclose their financial records, claiming they were subject to a longstanding Internal Revenue Service audit. He has long asserted that he has paid at least his fair share.
The Times reported Sunday that Trump paid only $750 in federal taxes in each year 2016 and 2017, while paying no income taxes in 10 of the last 15 years before becoming president due to reporting substantial losses while earning more than $427 million from his reality television show The Apprentice.
The report also said he has been battling the IRS over a $72.9 million tax refund he claimed in 2010 through detailing huge losses that could end up costing him more than $100 million if the federal agency determines the refund was illegitimate.
The stunning report, based on two decades of tax information leaked to the Times by unnamed sources, spurred Democrats to call for the president’s records to be released.
Rep. Bill Pascrell, chairman of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee, which has been leading Congress’ charge to obtain Trump’s records since February 2017, said in a statement that “this blockbuster report confirms some of our worst fears.”
