Trump paid 7,000 kronor in taxes in 2016 – VG

Tax reports the newspaper received also show that Trump paid $ 750 in federal income taxes in 2016 when he won the presidential election, and that he also paid $ 750 in income taxes in his first year as president in 2017.

The sum corresponds to just over 7,000 NOK at the current exchange rate.

According to the newspaper, the main reason Trump has not paid more in income tax is that he has reported losing more money than he has made.

Trump himself called the disclosure “fake news,” in a press conference just before midnight Norwegian time:

– Fake news. It is a fabrication. I paid taxes, says Trump.

– I have paid taxes, I have also paid a lot of income tax to New York. Everything will come to light, Trump continues.

More than 20 years of tax returns

Trump has been fighting for several years to keep his tax returns from being made public.

The New York Times writes that tax returns tell a fundamentally different story than what Trump himself has told the American public about himself.

The tax returns he has submitted to the United States tax authorities are intended to portray a businessman who makes several hundred million dollars a year, but still suffers from persistent large losses, which he in turn uses to avoid paying taxes.

According to the newspaper, Trump, now facing mounting economic challenges, is increasingly dependent on making money from companies that put him in a potential and often direct conflict of interest with his job as president.

The newspaper writes that they have received tax returns from more than 20 years ago for Trump and hundreds of companies that make up his business, including detailed information for the first two years of his presidency.

The information does not include Trump’s personal tax returns for 2018 and 2019.

Does not show connections with Russia

According to the newspaper, tax reports show that Trump is worth several hundred million dollars, but they do not show how rich he really is.

Nor should they reveal any connection to Russia that has not been previously reported.

Responding to a newspaper letter summarizing the findings, Trump Organization attorney Alan Garten said that “most, if not all, of the facts appear to be inaccurate.”

According to the newspaper, Garten also requested the documents on which the findings are based. After the New York Times refused to show the documents to protect its sources, Garten commented only on how much tax Trump had paid.

“Over the past decade, President Trump has paid millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government, including paying millions in personal taxes since he announced his candidacy in 2015,” Garten said in a statement.

I had to submit tax returns

In July, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Trump must turn over the tax returns to the prosecutor in New York. Trump later called it all “political prosecution.”

Before the Supreme Court decision, President Trump had invoked immunity. For several years he has refused to disclose information about his private finances and his lawyers have claimed that he is immune from scrutiny from Congress.

The decision did not necessarily mean that voters would know better about the president’s tax returns. But now they get it through the New York Times revelations.