Trump Taxes

Trump has continuously refused to follow the precedent set by every American Presidential candidate before him by publicly releasing his tax returns, which has made it difficult to assess and understand the full extent of his income, charitable giving, foreign holdings, business relationships, potential conflicts of interest, and more.

Timeline

2015.08.02	Donald Trump: "I pay as little as possible" in taxes. cbsnews.com (See also 2016 Campaign)
2016.02.25	In a Republican primary debate, Trump falsely claims he cannot release his tax returns because they are under audit. politico.com (See also False Statements, 2016 Campaign) There is no legal restriction preventing him from releasing his tax returns even if he's being audited. They are his to release if he sees fit to do so.
2016.09.16	During presidential debate, Trump says, "I'm 'smart' for paying no taxes." cnn.com
2016.09.26	In a presidential debate, Trump repeats his false claim that he cannot release his tax returns because he is under audit. latimes.com (See also False Statements)
2016.10.01	1995 Tax records suggest Trump could have avoided paying taxes for nearly two decades. nytimes.com
2016.10.09	Trump falsely claims in a presidential debate that investor Warren Buffett took a larger tax deduction than Trump did. politifact.com (See also False Statements)
2016.10.31	Tax experts say Trump may have avoided years of tax payments using legally dubious methods. nytimes.com
2017.01.18	Trump sues small NY town to reduce taxes on $50 million golf course he owns. money.cnn.com
2017.01.22	Trump spokeswoman Kellyanne Conway says Trump won't release tax returns even after IRS audit is complete. cnn.com
2017.01.22	Trump won’t release his tax returns because people don’t care and they voted for him, but 74 percent of Americans want him to do so. washingtonpost.com (See also False Statements, Conflicts of Interest)
2017.02.14	House Republicans block an attempt by Democrats to obtain Trump's tax returns from the IRS so that his financial links to Russia can be examined, among other things. apnews.com (See also Trump Business, Corruption, Trump Relationship with Russia)
2017.03.01	Lindsay Graham says he wants to require all 2020 presidential candidates to release their tax returns, including Trump if he runs for re-election. politico.com (See also First 100 Days, Conflicts of Interest)
2017.03.09	Experts: IRS is extremely unlikely to leak Trump's income taxes. nytimes.com (See also Conflicts of Interest, Trump Relationship with Russia)
2017.09.27	Despite what Donald Trump says publicly, the tax plan that his administration outlined is a potentially huge windfall for the wealthiest Americans - including Trump and his cabinet - would not directly benefit the bottom third of the population, and provide mixed to modest results for the middle class. nytimes.com (See also False Statements, Trump Cabinet, Economy)
2017.09.28	Donald Trump could cut his tax bills by more than $1.1 billion, including saving tens of millions of dollars in a single year, under his proposed tax changes. nytimes.com (See also Conflicts of Interest, Trump Business)
2017.09.29	The Republican tax plan promoted by Donald Trump this week as a middle-class tax cut would instead overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans and businesses. nytimes.com (See also False Statements)
2017.10.26	Despite claiming over and over again that his tax proposal is the biggest ever, Donald Trump is wrong. politifact.com (See also False Statements, Economy)
2017.12.15	A new provision not in the tax bill passed by the House or the Senate was inserted into the final bill during reconciliation negotiations between Republicans from both chambers. designed to offer a special tax cut to LLCs with few employees and large amounts of depreciable property assets, namely buildings: rent generating apartment and office buildings. ibtimes.com (See also Trump Business, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, Conflicts of Interest) The Trump organization and the Kushners, and top GOP lawmakers writing the tax bill collectively have tens of millions of dollars of ownership stakes in real-estate-related LLCs.
2017.12.20	Republicans are on the verge of passing the most significant overhaul of the tax code since 1986, after the Senate passed the GOP plan, cutting the corporate tax rate dramatically providing new breaks for businesses, lowering income tax bills in 2018 for the vast majority of households, though the wealthy would see far more relief than the middle class and working poor. washingtonpost.com (See also Unprecedented Actions, Economy, Affordable Care Act)
2017.12.24	Donald Trump kicked off his holiday weekend at Mar-a-Lago Friday night at a dinner where he told friends, "You all just got a lot richer," referencing the sweeping tax overhaul he signed into law hours earlier. cbsnews.com (See also Unpresidential Behavior, Conflicts of Interest)