We can finally see Trump's tax information: there were years when he paid nothing to the IRS at all

The 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, refused to release his tax returns for years. Dozens of lawyers fought in several courts to see them. And finally, now we can get acquainted with the tax information of the politician - a US Congress committee published summary report according to these documents.

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The House Committee, which oversees the IRS (United States Internal Revenue Service), has long wanted to see, and finally received just a few weeks ago, Trump's 2015-2020 tax returns. The purpose of the committee was to analyze "how the IRS enforces federal tax laws, and how they are enforced by the president."

Trump has repeatedly defied convention and refused to release his tax returns, both during his presidential run and as the current head of state.

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The committee concluded that the IRS did not do enough with Trump's declarations.

The committee claims that the IRS audit program was "idle" during Trump's presidency.

The report states that during Trump's time in office, the IRS opened only one audit - for his 2016 tax return, but that turned out to be "inactive." It remains unclear why the IRS was not more active in auditing Trump's income while he was president.

Many Democrats, including committee members as well as tax policy experts, suggest that a lack of resources, including manpower to conduct very complex audits, such as Trump's asset audit, may have affected the situation.

“It's easy to spot the flaws in the IRS. They lack resources. Rich guys can get around tax laws because the IRS doesn't have the resources to go after them,” said Steven M. Rosenthal, senior fellow at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute.

Trump didn't pay a dollar in taxes in 2020

According to the tables in commission report, Trump has suffered significant losses for several years, which is why he paid almost no taxes at all. At the same time, in the middle of his presidential term, his income increased sharply, and he paid a lot of taxes.

Trump paid a total of $1,1 million in federal income taxes in 2018 and 2019. This is in stark contrast to the $750 he paid in 2017 and $0 in 2020.

His 2018 taxable income approached $23 million, including a capital gain of $22 million.

The following year, he reported taxable income of about $3 million with a capital gain of $9 million.

However, in 2020, Trump reported losses of more than $16 million. That was enough for his federal income tax bill to be $0.

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A New York Times investigation found that for years before he ran for president, Trump was posting huge net operating losses. He was allowed to carry these losses forward to future tax years, which greatly reduced, if not eliminated, his tax bill.

“He is still using net operating losses to reduce his tax liability,” Rosenthal said.

For example, the commission noted that Trump suffered losses of $105 million in 2015, $73 million in 2016, $45 million in 2017, and $23 million in 2018.

Trump's charitable contributions

The commission also raised questions about the accuracy of some of Trump's huge charitable deductions on several of his tax returns.

In 2015, Trump claimed a $21,1 million deduction for donating 64 hectares of his property called Seven Springs in North Castle, New York. The donation to the land trust is the focus of the Manhattan District Attorney, who is investigating the financial affairs of the Trump Organization.

Because Trump had no taxable income in 2015, the deduction was limited, but could be carried forward and deducted in subsequent years.

The report also raises questions about monetary donations, which Trump described as charitable contributions.

In 2016 and 2017, Trump claimed nearly $1,2 million and $1,9 million in charitable donations, most of which were in cash. Trump, again, had no taxable income in those years, but he was able to roll over the deduction to future years, further limiting the amount of federal income tax he had to pay.

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Trump had taxable income in 2018 and 2019 and reported monetary donations of just over $500 in each of those years. This means that in those years he could claim a deduction for charitable donations. The commission suggested asking Trump to justify these large monetary donations.

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