How much does Trump earn?
By law, US presidential candidates are not required to release their tax returns. However, they have been doing this since the 1970s, and Donald Trump has become an exception among them. He never publicly reported his income and taxes to citizens.
At the end of December 2022, the US Congress released part of the tax returns of Trump and his then-wife for 2015-2020. Here's what was there:
— in 2015 they reported losses of $31,7 million and paid taxes of $641,9K
— in 2016 and 2017, losses amounted to $32,4 million and $12,9 million, respectively, and the amount of taxes paid was only $750 for each year
— in 2018 their earnings amounted to $24,3 million, tax amount: $999 thousand
- in 2019 they earned $4,4 million, and the tax amount: $133K
- in 2020, Trump and his wife again suffered losses of $4,8 million, and they did not pay taxes at all
Why were the former president’s declarations published at all?
It has long been known that Trump is the richest president in American history. But back in 2019, Democrats demanded that the IRS release the returns of Trump and his related companies. At that time, he still served as head of state, and the upcoming presidential race had just begun. The request was explained by the need to monitor whether the tax department is fulfilling its responsibilities to verify the president’s returns. Trump's lawyers challenged the release of the declarations in the courts, but the Supreme Court allowed the documents to be transferred to congressmen for further release after the vote.
And so, at the end of 2022, the House of Representatives, as part of the democratic majority, managed to vote for the publication of the declarations. Let me remind you that according to the results of last year’s elections, from 2023 the House of Representatives began to work under the control of Republicans. In fact, this is the Democrats' last chance to prevent Trump from running for president again.
Of course, Trump is no saint either. He said that he gave his entire presidential salary to charity, although he did not do this every year. His accountants write off gigantic amounts of money for expenses, which is generally normal practice for any businessman, especially at this level. But they may soon be audited for Trump's suspiciously low taxes. In 2017, as president, he paid a million dollars in foreign taxes, and $750 in his own country. The US Tax Service is the strictest and most demanding, as you remember. For example, she may not care if an illegal immigrant works in a cafe, the main thing is that he pays taxes.
Author: Anton Nayanzin
