President Donald Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes both in 2016, the year he ran for president, and in 2017, his first year in the White House, according to a report Sunday in The New York Times.
Trump, who has fiercely guarded his tax filings and is the only president in modern times not to make them public, paid no federal income taxes in 10 of the past 15 years, the article said.
The details of the tax filings complicate Trump's description of himself as a shrewd and patriotic businessman, revealing instead a series of financial losses and income from abroad that could come into conflict with his responsibilities as president.
The president's financial disclosures indicated he earned at least $434.9 million in 2018, but the tax filings reported a $47.4 million loss.
A lawyer for the Trump Organization, Alan Garten, and a spokesperson for the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press on the report.
Garten told the Times that Trump did pay million in taxes and that "most, if not all, of the facts appear to be inaccurate." Trump dismissed the report in a press conference Sunday.
Speaking at a news conference Sunday at the White House, Trump dismissed the report as "fake news" and maintained he has paid taxes, though he gave no specifics. He also vowed that information about his taxes "will all be revealed," but he offered no timeline for the disclosure and made similar promises during the 2016 campaign, but he never followed through.
In fact, the president has fielded court challenges against those seeking access to his returns, including the U.S. House of Representatives, which is suing for access to Trump's tax returns as part of congressional oversight.
The disclosure, which the Times said comes from tax return data it obtained extending over two decades, comes just days ahead of the first presidential debate Tuesday and weeks before a divisive election against Democrat Joe Biden.
During his first two years as president, the Times reported that Trump received $73 million from foreign operations, which in addition to his golf properties in Scotland and Ireland included $3 million from the Philippines, $2.3 million from India and $1 million from Turkey. The president in 2017 paid $145,400 in taxes in India and $156,824 in the Philippines, compared to just $750 in U.S. income taxes.
Trump found multiple ways to reduce his tax bills, according to the article. He has taken tax deductions on personal expenses such as housing, aircraft and $70,000 to style his hair while he filmed "The Apprentice." Losses in the property businesses solely owned and managed by Trump appear to have offset income from his stake in "The Apprentice" and other entities with multiple owners.
During the first two years of his presidency, the article said Trump relied on business tax credits to reduce his tax obligations. The Times said $9.7 million worth of business investment credits that were submitted after Trump requested an extension to file his taxes allowed him to reduce his income and pay just $750 each in 2016 and 2017.
Income tax payments help finance U.S. military and domestic programs.
Trump, starting in 2010, claimed and received an income tax refund that totaled $72.9 million, which the Times said was at the core of an ongoing audit by the IRS. The president has declined to release his taxes citing the audit
Richard Neal, D-Mass., the chair of the House Ways and Means Committee who has tried unsuccessfully to obtain Trump's tax records, said the Times report makes it even more essential for his committee to get the documents.
"It appears that the President has gamed the tax code to his advantage and used legal fights to delay or avoid paying what he owes," Neal wrote in a statement. "Now, Donald Trump is the boss of the agency he considers an adversary. It is essential that the IRS's presidential audit program remain free of interference."
Garten said in a statement to the news organization that the president "has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government, including paying millions in personal taxes since announcing his candidacy in 2015."
The New York Times said it declined to provide Garten with the tax filings in order to protect its sources.
