Trump Paid More in Foreign Taxes Than US Income Tax for Several Years

• crime

Donald Trump's tax returns, released by the House Ways and Means Committee on December 31, 2022, have revealed that the former President paid more in foreign taxes than US income tax for several years. The documents, which cover the period from 2015 to 2020, also shed light on Trump's international business dealings and financial ties.

According to the Associated Press, Trump's filings showed that he kept financial accounts in China, Ireland, and the United Kingdom from 2015 to 2017, even after he took office. By 2018, he only reported the UK account. The former President also reported income from more than a dozen countries, including Azerbaijan, China, India, Panama, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates.

In several years, Trump paid more in foreign taxes related to his international business dealings than he did in income tax to the United States.

Tax returns

The tax returns also showed that Trump's federal income tax payments fluctuated significantly over the years.

In 2015, as he began his campaign for the presidency, he paid $641,931 in federal income tax. However, he paid just $750 in 2016 and 2017, followed by almost $1 million in 2018, $133,445 in 2019, and nothing in 2020, the last year of returns that were released.

While the recently released tax documents provide insight into Trump's finances, they do not offer proof of legal wrongdoing. However, Professor Daniel Shaviro, a taxation expert at New York University, told the Associated Press that some of the details, such as claims of foreign tax credits and large write-offs, are worth a closer look by auditors.

Shaviro said, "The return doesn't say, 'Guess what? I'm committing fraud,' but there are red flags." The release of Trump's tax returns follows years of legal battles in which he broke from decades of precedent and fought to keep his financial disclosures private.

The process was only set in motion after Committee Chairman, Democratic Representative Richard Neal, requested a copy of the former President's taxes. In a statement, Neal said, "This is a major failure of the IRS under the prior administration, and certainly not what we had hoped to find.

But the evidence is clear. Congress must step in. I've proposed legislation to put the program above reproach. Ensuring IRS conducts yearly, timely examinations while publicly disclosing certain information."