After a news outlet's revelations of US President Donald Trump's tax-return data, Trump denied the allegations and labeled it as a "total fake news."
During a news conference in the White House, Trump answered the claims by The New York Times who published information about his tax returns. The US president denied the claim that he only paid federal income taxes of $750 in the year that he ran for office and his first year as president of the US.
Based on the report by the NY Times, in the past 10 out of 15 years, Trump has not paid federal income taxes. It can be recalled that Trump has been very careful in guarding his tax information and is the only US president in modern times who has not made them available to the public.
Trump dismissed the claims and insisted that he paid his taxes during the news conference, however, he did not give any specific information about the issue, Yahoo! News reported.
On Monday, Trump used his Twitter account to further emphasize his stand that the revealed information was not legitimate by tweeting the words, "FAKE NEWS."
Based on the disclosure, the Times stated that it was from a tax return data which they have obtained. They also claimed that the said tax return data extends to more than two decades.
The revelations also came only a few days ahead of Tuesday's presidential debate and a few weeks before the 2020 Presidential election where Trump is running against Democrat nominee Joe Biden.
Trump also promised that he would be revealing all information about his taxes, but did not give a timeline. This is the same statement he made back in 2016 when he was campaigning for President, a claim which he failed to follow through.
Major Revelations from NY Times Report
Trump's taxes were little to none
According to USA Today via MSN, the information revealed by the Times stated that in some years, US President Trump did not pay any tax at all. This is due to several questionable write-offs and business losses.
In the report it was stated that Trump only paid $750 in taxes on the year he got elected as president and another $750 in his first year residing in the White House. It was also stated that the president did not pay taxes for a decade due to his income statements noting that he lost more money than he made.
More Money Paid Abroad
The disclosure also claimed that Trump made more payments for his companies abroad compared to the payments made in the US.
In his companies in Panama, India, and the Philippines paid more than $300,000 in total taxes to the said countries. This is more than 400 times the amount that he has paid to the US government.
A $72.9 million refund was claimed by Trump
It was also noted in the disclosure that trump received a $72.9 million refund which is a prime subject of an audit by the IRS.
Despite the revelations, the president has firmly noted that he paid his taxes and that all the allegations against him were made up.
