Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: US President Donald Trump may be seeking a second term in the White House in November this year but he seems to ‘love’ India more than America if his tax payments are to be believed!
He paid just $750 (Rs. 55,320) in federal income taxes in 2017 when he was elected as US President, while he or his companies paid $145,400 (Rs. 10,724,885) taxes in India the same year, according to media reports.
Trump, however, rubbished the report as “totally fake news”.
In a surprise victory, Trump, as the Republican candidate, had defeated Democratic rival Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential race.
“Donald J Trump paid $750 in federal income taxes the year he won the presidency. In his first year in the White House, he paid another $750,” The New York Times reported on Sunday, citing tax return data extending over 20 years.
The report came days before Trump’s first presidential debate with his fresh Democratic rival Joe Biden on Tuesday (September 29) and weeks before the November 3 presidential poll.
Trump paid no income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years, largely because he reported losing much more money than he made, the report said.
Sitting US presidents are not required, by law, to release details of their personal finances. But every US President since Richard Nixon has done so. Trump, who has fiercely guarded his tax filings, is the only president in modern times not to make them public.
He has fielded court challenges against those seeking access to his returns, including the US House, which is suing for access to Trump’s tax returns as part of congressional oversight.
“His reports to the IRS (Internal Revenue Service) portray a businessman who takes in hundreds of millions of dollars a year yet racks up chronic losses that he aggressively employs to avoid paying taxes. Now, with his financial challenges mounting, the records show that he depends more and more on making money from businesses that put him in potential and often direct conflict of interest with his job as president,” The NYT said.
The report claimed that in his first two years in the White House, Trump’s revenue from abroad totaled
“In 2017, the president’s $750 contribution to the operations of the US government was dwarfed by the $15,598 he or his companies paid in Panama, the $145,400 in India and the $156,824 in the Philippines.”
Meanwhile, at a White House press briefing on Sunday, Trump dismissed The NYT report as “totally fake news” and claimed that the media house has tried the same thing previously too.