Trump's businesses lost more than $1 billion in a decade, claims report on his tax records
President Trump's businesses reported cumulative losses of a whopping $1.17 billion from 1985 to 1994 according to tax documents from that period, stated a New York Times report on Tuesday.
The 10 years of tax information acquired by the newspaper showed that Trump lost more money than nearly any other individual US taxpayer year after year, reported CNN.
Trump garnered the support of the masses from his reputation as a successful self-made-billionaire, but he has been reluctant to make his tax returns public. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin denied a request by the House Ways and Means Committee for obtaining his tax records from the period not covered by documents brought forth by The Times.
According to the newspaper, Trump's core business losses amounted to over $250 million in 1990 and 1991, which is more than double of the closest taxpayers in those two years. He reportedly lost so much money that he was able to avoid income taxes for eight of the 10 years, The Times reported.
Previously, the newspaper had claimed Trump helped "his parents dodge taxes" in the 1990s with "instances of outright fraud" despite never being proven in court. The former real estate mogul worked together with his siblings and allegedly helped his parents hide millions of dollars in gifts in a "sham corporation".
The Times has also previously claimed that Trump received at least $413 million in today's dollars from his father's real estate business.
The newspaper was, however, not able to have a look at Trump's tax returns directly and reportedly spoke to someone who "had legal access" to the returns and gave them information about their contents. They then cross-checked the information to high-net-worth individuals listed on the public database of IRS where their identities have been redacted. Notwithstanding, The Times "confirmed" significant findings using confidential Trump family tax and financial records they previously got their hands on.
"The President got massive depreciation and tax shelter because of large-scale construction and subsidized developments," a senior White House official reportedly told the newspaper several weeks ago. "That is why the President 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."
However, the information published by the Times is debatable. Charles J. Harder, a lawyer for the President, told the Times on Saturday that the tax data acquired by the newspaper was "demonstrably false" and that their statements "about the President's tax returns and business from 30 years ago are highly inaccurate."
Earlier this week, Harder told the Times that "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."