Little Trump’s Illustrated Bible? After a lengthy legal battle, another tax return from former President Donald Trump was released on Friday by a US House of Representatives committee backed by the Supreme Court. More than 2,700 pages of personal statements from Donald and Melania Trump from 2015 to 2020 and more than 3,000 pages of statements from his companies are now accessible, while the New York businessman became the first White House candidate to refuse to publish his statements.
In a video statement, Trump criticized the release of these documents: “The Democrats should never have done it, the Supreme Court should never have approved it” and that it will only lead to one thing: “The great American divide is now getting bigger, much worse.” , he said. The video is accompanied by a link to fund his new campaign. And Trump remains Trump, he also concludes that the disclosed data demonstrates his unparalleled business success and allows for “the creation of thousands of jobs and great structures and companies.”
For real ? Most notably, the documents show that Trump’s income and tax liabilities fluctuated dramatically during his first presidential bid and tenure, and that he and Melania relied on large amounts of debt to receive sizeable federal tax deductions, including $105 million in 2015 and $73 million in 2016. In 2017, the first year of his effective presidency, Trump paid just $750 in taxes in Washington thanks to tweaking a whole system of deductions and losses. With an adjusted deficit of $4.8 million, it didn’t even pay a federal income tax in 2020. And that’s not the only oddity contained in the documents.
Received large payments from his children. According to US media, which has begun reviewing the data, Donald Trump has said in each year of his presidency that from 2017 to 2019 he received $18,000 in interest on a loan to his daughter Ivanka Trump and $8,715 in interest from his son Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump would have paid his father $24,000, then $19,605 in 2020. The American system allows loans between parents and children, but at market rates and on condition that this “generosity” is not used for tax-cutting purposes. That’s why round numbers come as a surprise.
Too perfect numbers. Exactly, it might seem like a mania, these round numbers. In 2017, DJT Aerospace LLC, which operates Trump’s personal helicopter, reported sales of $42,965. And $42,965 in salaries, fuel and maintenance. Zero income = zero taxes.
Amazing generosity and no donations in 2020. Trump called himself a billionaire and pledged to donate his entire $400,000 annual salary to charity. “Although the press doesn’t like writing about it and I don’t need to, I donate my $400,000 annual presidential salary to various agencies throughout the year,” he tweeted in March 2019. He made significant donations to charities in 2018 and 2019, but in 2020, the final year of his presidency, his tax return shows no donations.
Additionally, Trump’s statements refer to large cash donations to lower his taxes, for which there is no evidence. In 2015, the tycoon also sought a $21.1 million deduction from his tax bill for gifting 64 of the 86 acres of his Seven Springs estate in North Castle, New York, to a land trust. This donation is the focus of a Manhattan criminal investigation into the Trump Organization’s finances.
Foreign Bank Accounts. Between 2015 and 2017, during the election campaign, Trump held a bank account in China, and by 2020 accounts were held in several countries, including the UK and Ireland. In 2020, when Trump’s campaign team tried to convince Americans that his rival Joe Biden was a Chinese “puppet,” the New York Times revealed the existence of that bank account; The lawyer for the Trump organization, Alan Garten, justified the need at the time with the commercial growth of Trump’s hotels in the country.
Result: While Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in 2017, he paid nearly $1 million in foreign taxes through his corporations. In addition to Great Britain, Ireland and China, money was sent to Azerbaijan, Panama, Canada, India, Qatar, South Korea, Dominican Republic, United Arab Emirates, Philippines, Grenada, US Territory of Puerto Rico, Georgia, Israel, Brazil, St. Maarten, Mexico, Indonesia, Turkey and St. Vincent.
In early December, the Trump Organization was found guilty of financial and tax fraud after a trial in New York that failed to bring the former Republican president to justice. The publication of these documents, which show that the body responsible for controls has hardly exercised its powers, could give rise to further legal proceedings.