Donald Trump paid no federal income tax in 10 of the past 15 years and only $750 in the year he was elected following a presidential campaign in which he repeatedly boasted of his success as a billionaire businessman, according to filings.
The president only paid a further $750 in 2017, his first in the White House, show long-withheld tax returns obtained by The New York Times.
The filings show Mr Trump has been saddled for years with debt and incurred losses in ways that have allowed him to avoid paying income taxes at the rates one might expect for a self-proclaimed billionaire, the newspaper reported after sifting through documents spanning decades.
The president has fiercely protected his tax filings and is the only president of modern times not to make them public, bringing long-running legal challenges to prevent House Democrats obtaining them.
During his successful 2016 presidential campaign, Mr Trump pitched himself as wealthy property mogul with “tremendous cash flow” and business acumen that would benefit the US if entered the White House.
But his tax filings tell a much different story, according to the Times.
“Most of Mr Trump’s core enterprises — from his constellation of golf courses to his conservative-magnet hotel in Washington — report losing millions, if not tens of millions, of dollars year after year,” the paper reported.
On top of that, he is on the books for hundreds of millions of dollars in unpaid loans — more than $300m over the next four years alone, bills he is personally liable for, the Times story states.
Mr Trump is also under audit by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for a $72.9m tax refund he applied for and secured years ago after he reported millions of dollars in losses. He could be liable to pay back more than $100m depending on the outcome of that audit, the Times has reported.
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Mr Trump denied the contents of the Times report at a previously scheduled press conference within minutes of its publication on Sunday.
“It’s fake news. Totally fake news. Made up,” Mr Trump said, without addressing any of the story’s specifics.
“Actually, I paid tax and you will see that as soon as my tax returns… they are under audit,” the president added, repeating a common refrain from the White House and his campaign team use to explain why he has not released his financial files, a customary step taken by every major-party presidential candidate for decades.
“It’ll all be revealed. It’s gonna come out,” Mr Trump claimed of his tax returns.
