Trump paid $0 in federal tax in 2020 and his taxes weren’t audited by IRS until 2019

Former President Trump paid around $1 million in taxes throughout his time as president and paid $0 in 2020, according to a report on his tax returns released by the House Ways and Means Committee. 

The report also revealed the IRS had started an audit on just two years of Trump’s tax returns – despite having a longstanding policy of auditing presidents every year. That audit did not begin until April 2019, the same day the committee began poking around for Trump’s taxes. 

But Trump famously refused to turn over his tax returns in 2016 because he claimed to be under continuous audits (even if he was, it wouldn’t preclude him from releasing his tax returns by law). 

The IRS has yet to complete those audits and the agency did not begin auditing his filings covering income he made during the presidency until after he left office. 

Democrats obtained Trump’s tax returns from 2015 to 2020 weeks ago by court order and voted to release the documents on Tuesday night, marking the pinnacle of a years-long back-and-forth as Trump sought to conceal the mysterious documents.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Rep. Richard Neal (D-MA) and Ranking Member Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) talk after the committee voted to submit their report, including the tax records 

They asked the Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT), a nonpartisan office of tax lawyers and economists, to review the documents and released the JCT findings along with their own report on the IRS audit system.  

The former president made tens of millions annually during that period, but was able to chip away at his tax bill by carrying over steep business losses from over the years. 

Trump donated his salary as president so all of his earnings were from other business ventures.  

From 2015 to 2016, Trump carried over big losses from over the years to pay little relatively little in federal income tax. 

In 2015, Trump reported making more than $50 million through income in capital gains, interest, dividends and other earnings. But he reported some $85 million in losses, leaving him at a negative income of $31 million. 

In 2015, Trump reported making more than $50 million through income in capital gains, interest, dividends and other earnings. But he reported some $85 million in losses, leaving him at a negative income of $31 million

U.S. House Ways and Means Committee staff members transport boxes of documents after a committee meeting to discuss former President Donald Trump’s tax returns on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., December 20

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He was hit with an alternative minimum tax that year – a tax code provision designed to prevent the wealthy from zeroing their tax bills – and had to pay $641,000. 

Trump reported negative income for the next two years – paying only $750 in federal income tax in 2016 and 2017 –  before his fortunes turned around in 2018.

Trump’s $22 million in capital gain in 2018 and $9 million in 2019 from asset sales gave him a sizable tax bill. 

He reported nearly $24.3 million in adjusted gross income in 2018 and paid nearly a million in tax. The following year he was in the black as well, reporting $4.4 million in income and paying $133,445 in tax. 

The JCT report also identifies different areas that the committee is looking to probe further, such as a $506,000 charitable donation in 2020 and ‘party loans’ to Trump’s children Ivanka, Don. Jr. and Eric that could be disguised gifts and schedule C income reporting. 

The committee noted in one example from 2015, Trump was paid $50,000 for a speaking gig which was almost entirely offset by $46,162 in travel expenses. 

‘Audits of closely-held entities often find personal expenditures being improperly deducted as travel expenses,’ the report said.