Newsman: House Democrats released several years’ worth of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns on Friday, launching what is sure to be another round of intense scrutiny of his finances.
The House’s top tax writer, Ways and Means Chair Richard Neal (D-Mass.) had been engaged in a 3½-year legal battle over the release of Trump’s taxes until the Supreme Court ruled in his favor in November. It also adds to the growing list of political and legal challenges for Trump as he mounts his 2024 campaign for president.
The documents, covering 2015 to 2020, could provide new insight into Trump’s wealth, the performance of his business empire and how he was able to reduce his tax liability.
The six years of joint tax returns filed by Trump and his wife, Melania, — from 2015 to 2020 — number a little over 2,700 pages. They report income from a wide range of golf, restaurant and ice-skating businesses, as well as speaking engagements.
The tax forms also show income Trump generated in a range of foreign countries including Canada, China, Turkey, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, and the Caribbean island of Saint Martin, among others.
Income from Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom figure prominently in gross amounts reported. Trump also reported numerous streams of income from Panama.
Trump’s income swung wildly over the years, according to the returns, ranging from a deficit of $32.4 million in 2016 to a high of $24.4 million in 2018. He paid roughly $1 million in taxes in 2018, but nothing in 2020 after reporting negative income of $4.8 million. He paid $641,931 in 2015, $750 in both 2016 and 2017, and $133,445 in 2019.
Trump reported giving gifts to charity for tax years 2015 through 2019, including $1.2 million in 2016, $1.9 million in 2017 and two gifts of around half a million in 2018 and 2019.
His real estate empire and other businesses reported significant losses over the six years, some of which reflected losses in prior years that were carried forward.
Another notable item in the returns are interest payments made to Trump from his children: From 2017 through 2020, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. paid their father $18,000 and $8,715, respectively, in interest each year. Eric Trump paid $24,000 each year to his father from 2017 through 2019, but that figure dropped to $19,605 in 2020.
That could be a sign Trump could be trying to skirt a stiff 40 percent tax on gifts to his children by classifying them as loans instead. Though not necessary illegal, the technique would need to adhere to strict IRS rules and requires documentation of letters sent to Trump’s children stating that the former president is forgiving the loans’ principal.
In his last year as president, Trump reported making no charitable contributions. he made promise while campaigning to give away his annual presidential salary of $400,000.
According to a Ways and Means report released last week, the IRS was severely outgunned in its efforts to audit Trump, whose returns weren’t audited during his first two years in office despite an IRS policy of examining the taxes of sitting presidents.
A single agent at the IRS was responsible for examining Trump’s voluminous returns and was pitted against partners at a global law firm and a former IRS chief counsel. Trump’s representatives protested when it was suggested that the IRS bring in two more auditors to help handle the sizable paperwork.
