The New York Times says Donald Trump paid just $750 (£587) in federal income tax both in 2016, the year he ran for the US presidency, and in his first year in the White House.
The newspaper – which says it obtained tax records for Mr Trump and his companies over two decades – also alleges that he paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the last 15 years despite receiving $427.4m through 2018 from his reality television programme and other endorsement and licensing deals.
The US president is worth an estimated $2.1bn – down by $1bn during the coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest estimate by Forbes magazine.
For years, Trump has refused to make public his tax records, and has fought legal efforts compelling him to do so, saying they are under audit.
According to the New York Times report, Trump was able to minimise his tax bill by reporting heavy losses across his business empire.
The Times reported Trump claimed $47.4m in losses in 2018, despite claiming income of at least $434.9m in a financial disclosure that year.
The newspaper reported that the president is also facing a “decade-long audit battle with the Internal Revenue Service over the legitimacy of a $72.9m tax refund that he claimed, and received, after declaring huge losses.” It said an adverse ruling “could cost him more than $100m”.
“With his financial challenges mounting, the records show that he depends more and more on making money from businesses that put him in potential and often direct conflict of interest with his job as president.”
President Trump has however denied the report at a press conference.
“It’s fake news, it’s totally fake news. Made up. Fake,” he told reporters.
“Actually, I paid tax, and you’ll see that as soon as my tax returns – It’s under audit, they’ve been under audit for a long time.”
Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, also said in a statement to the New York Times that “most, if not all, of the facts appear to be inaccurate”.
“Over the past decade, President Trump 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,” Mr Garten said in a statement.
The report comes at a pivotal moment ahead of the first of three presidential debates on 29th September, and weeks before the November 3 presidential election.
The report also said that during his first two years as president, 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, among other nations.
The president in 2017 paid $145,400 in taxes in India and $156,824 in the Philippines, compared to just $750 in US income taxes. The Times said the tax records did not reveal any unreported connections to Russia.
House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi of the opposition Democratic Party, said in a statement that the latest revelations about Trump’s taxes showed his “disdain for America’s working families.”
