Trump will have to repay loans of more than 4 billion in the next presidential term

Donald Trump’s real estate empire is doing far worse than he gives the impression.

“That means I’m smart,” Donald Trump said during the 2016 election campaign, when Hillary Clinton accused him of not paying taxes.

Now, revelations in The New York Times suggest that the failure to pay taxes is due to Trump not being as successful a businessman as he would like.

The newspaper has obtained the president’s tax returns for the past 20 years. They show that you pay little tax. This is in part due to many large deductions, but also because your business is not performing as well.

– An incompetent businessman

CNN summed up the impression of the leaks that they “reveal an incompetent businessman.” He is a habitual tax evader. Debt is burdensome and can expose you to conflicts of interest.

Donald Trump himself and his lawyers say the revelations are “fake news” and give the wrong impression of the president’s finances.

One of his attorneys, Alan Garten, says Trump has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to federal authorities. The New York Times writes that what the lawyer is referring to may be taxes other than personal income tax.

Large expenses and relatively small revenues mean that the president has not paid national income tax in 10 of the last 15 years. In 2016 and 2017, you paid $ 750 in income taxes.

The US tax authorities, the IRS, believe that Trump, in false terms, may have been refunded $ 72.9 million, more than 690 million crowns. If Trump loses the years-long dispute with the IRS, he risks having to pay back even more. The bill can amount to more than 100 million dollars, that is, around one billion crowns.

Tax returns indicate that Trump has listed spending on private homes as if they were investments in his business empire. Her own hairdressing expenses and daughter Ivanka’s visits to beauty salons are also recorded as investments.

In total, they have deducted 1.6 million crowns for hair care and makeup. Trump’s share is almost 700,000 crowns in connection with the filming of the series. The newbie.

The president believes that many of the expenses that appear to be pure luxury are necessary for business operations.

But above all, the low tax bill is due to the fact that business is doing worse than he implied.

Fight the public

During the election campaign four years ago and in the years since, Trump has broken a 50-year precedent. He has not published tax returns. He claims that it has not been long since he is in talks with the tax authorities.

Trump’s tax returns have been a hot potato both in the political debate and in court. The president’s political opponents ask what he hides. Democratic politicians in Congress tried in vain to obtain their tax returns while investigating Russian interference in the election campaign.

The New York Attorney General will also have access.

Best on TV

Donald Trump has built his career by looking successful. The revelations cast new doubts on this image.

For many years, Trump and Forbes magazine have been arguing about how rich he is. Forbes has consistently written the values. He has said that he is much richer. Tax returns may indicate that Forbes has also made an overly positive impression.

For 2020, Forbes estimates that Trump’s fortune is $ 2.1 billion. That is just under NOK 20 billion. In the last year, values ​​fell by a billion dollars due to the crown crisis.

The New York Times twists the knife in the wound and writes that Trump was better playing a successful businessman on television than running a business in real life.

The most profitable thing he’s done in recent years is being a reality TV host. He earned a total of $ 427.4 million on the series. The newbie and by renting your name.

Dangerously heavy debt

According to The New York Times, many of Trump’s largest and best-known investments are in deficit. Not least, its golf courses are a bad business, which since 2000 has lost $ 315 million, or close to 3 billion crowns. Losses help lower taxes. One of the few properties that is doing well is the Trump Tower in New York. It has a profit of 20 million dollars a year.

According to the leaks, the president has guaranteed large loans.

Over the next four years, you will have to pay creditors $ 421 million, or $ 4 billion. In addition, you risk a tax bill of $ 100 million, or 950 million crowns.

No ties to Russia

It is not known who the creditors are. It could be difficult for them to collect the debt, if Trump is still in the presidency. In the United States, there is also speculation about whether creditors can pressure the president.

One thing Trump can be happy about is that the newspaper has found no link to Russia. It has been speculated whether his leniency towards the Russians is due to the fact that they have a financial grip on him.

Uncertain effect

Reactions to the revelations have been predictable: Democratic politicians in Congress see them as ammunition in the election campaign. Republicans downplay them.

Polling guru Nate Silver writes that he is unsure how the revelations will affect the November 3 election. He’s excited about the way Joe Biden’s campaign staff is guiding his response.

But many American media outlets are honing their stories by saying that Trump got away with $ 750 in taxes in recent years. It is a concretization that voters can cling to.