On Friday (December 30), the House Ways and Means Committee released six years of former President Donald Trump’s tax returns, including some of his business tax returns.
The Committee released 46 documents, totaling hundreds of pages which give a clearer insight into the former President’s financial situation. The picture the tax returns paint is that Trump doesn’t earn income from real estate but rather from interest payments and investments.
Instead, in six years, Trump’s real estate businesses have consistently recorded losses, something that the Committee described as “large, unusual or questionable.”
The tax returns also show that the former President paid income taxes in the form of estimated taxes for several years, but these estimated taxes are anticipation of future returns.
This is evidenced by the former President only taking a partial return in 2020. This was only in anticipation of a partial refund, with the remaining to be returned in the following year.
The tax returns also show that the former President has been making an income from inheritance. In 2020, Trump reported a $26 million gain on a Brooklyn housing complex he inherited from his father.
The 2020 returns are also eye-opening because they illuminate the lack of charitable donations the former President made during the year, despite pledging to donate all the income he made as President.
The release of Trump’s raw returns is the final power play Democrats are making in the last hours of their House majority, showing that Trump had reported significant losses to reduce his tax liability.
