President Donald Trump said on Monday that he paid millions of dollars in taxes but was entitled to depreciation and tax credits. He added that he is “extremely under leveraged” and said that he may release financial statements that would show all his assets and debts.
Trump was responding to a New York Times report that claimed they had knowledge of the president’s tax returns, saying he only paid $750 in taxes in 2016 and 2017.
The President has fought to keep his tax returns private. Trump said the newspaper obtained records “illegally” and then reported on with “only bad intent.”
MOST OR ALL IS INACCURATE
Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, told the newspaper that “most, if not all” of the information about the tax returns appear to be inaccurate. He said that Trump paid “millions in personal taxes since announcing his candidacy in 2015” while over the past ten years, he paid “tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government.”
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In his statement, Trump also said he may release financial statements from the time he announced he was running for office. He said they are “very IMPRESSIVE,” in line with the theme of the many comments he has made about the reputed vastness of his wealth. While Trump’s net worth is not a matter of public record, Forbes recently estimated it at $2.5 billion.
HE GIVES HIS SALARY AWAY
“I am the only President on record to give up my yearly $400,000 plus Presidential Salary!” Trump also wrote in the statement, hinting at the fact that only someone with considerable wealth would be prone to such generosity.
The New York Times claims the tax returns “portray a businessman who takes in hundreds of millions of dollars a year yet racks up chronic losses that he aggressively employs to avoid paying taxes,” and that the president “has been more successful playing a business mogul than being one in real life.” Trump denies that and so does his lawyer.
The president told reporters at a briefing on Sunday that he’s unable to release his financial records because he is being audited by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
“It’s under audit. They’ve been under audit for a long time,” he said. “The IRS does not treat me well.”
Trump added, “When they’re not [under audit], I would be proud to show [them].”
The president also said he paid a considerable amount of taxes over the years. “First of all, I paid a lot,” he said. “I paid a lot of state income taxes too. New York State charges a lot.”
President Trump tweeted today:
The Fake News Media, just like Election time 2016, is bringing up my Taxes & all sorts of other nonsense with illegally obtained information & only bad intent. I paid many millions of dollars in taxes but was entitled, like everyone else, to depreciation & tax credits…..
…..Also, if you look at the extraordinary assets owned by me, which the Fake News hasn’t, I am extremely under leveraged – I have very little debt compared to the value of assets. Much of this information is already on file, but I have long said that I may release….
….Financial Statements, from the time I announced I was going to run for President, showing all properties, assets and debts. It is a very IMPRESSIVE Statement, and also shows that I am the only President on record to give up my yearly $400,000 plus Presidential Salary!
Go to about 25:00:
LIVE: President @realDonaldTrump holds a news conference https://t.co/cNOWdtlxGC
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) September 27, 2020
