Washington–US President Donald Trump’s businesses reported losses of $1.17 billion from 1985 to 1994, the New York Times has reported, citing information from tax documents from those years.
According to the daily, the data printouts from Trump’s official Internal Revenue Service tax transcripts, with the figures from his federal tax form for the years 1985 to 1994 – represents the fullest and most detailed look to date at his taxes, information he has kept from public view.
The New York Times on Tuesday said that the 10 years of tax information obtained by it “paints a different and far bleaker” picture of Trump’s deal-making abilities as well as financial condition.
It appears Trump lost more money than nearly any other individual US taxpayer year after year, the daily reported.
Trump ran for President branding himself as a “self-made billionaire”, touting his financial success, but he has been steadfast in his refusal to release his tax returns to the public, despite mounting pressure from Congress.
On Monday, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin formally denied a request from the House Ways and Means Committee for the President’s last six years of tax returns — a period not covered by the documents reported by the daily.
In 1990 and 1991, Trump’s core business losses were more than $250 million each year — more than double those of the closest taxpayers in those years, the report said, adding that Trump lost so much money that he avoided paying income tax for eight of the 10 years.
It previously reported that Trump helped “his parents dodge taxes” in the 1990s, including “instances of outright fraud” and that he and his siblings helped his parents hide millions of dollars in gifts in a “sham corporation”.
It had also reported that Trump, starting at the age of 3, received at least $413 million from his father’s real estate empire.
Several weeks ago, a senior White House official told the daily: “The President got massive depreciation and tax shelter because of large-scale construction and subsidized developments.
“That is why he has always scoffed at the tax system and said you need to change the tax laws. You can make a large income and not have to pay large amount of taxes.”
Trump’s lawyer Charles J. Harder, however, rubbished the tax information acquired by the daily and said that its statements “about the President’s tax returns and business from 30 years ago are highly inaccurate”.
“IRS transcripts, particularly before the days of electronic filing, are notoriously inaccurate and would not be able to provide a reasonable picture of any taxpayer’s return,” he said. (IANS)
