A look at some of the key numbers from Trump’s tax returns

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Thousands of pages of Donald Trumps tax returns shed light on his vast business empire, before and during his presidency, as well as his changing fortunes during his time in the Oval Office.

While Trump endured significant financial losses in the two years before entering the White House, he had an adjusted gross income of $15.8 million in his first three years as president when he paid $1.1 million in federal income tax.

In his last year in office, 2020, he paid no income tax, according to his tax returns released Friday by the House Ways and Means Committee. Democrats have spent years hounding financial documents voluntarily released by past presidents and White House candidates.

Here’s some of what we learned when the returns were first made public on Friday.

1. Trumps fortunes have risen and fallen, as he aggressively reports losses.

Throughout his campaign and presidency, Trump made money from a wide variety of sources, including real estate, his earlier career as a TV personality, and numerous businesses such as golf clubs and liquor. His total income reached hundreds of millions of dollars. But he reported deductions to reduce that income and the taxes he owed on it. From 2015 to 2020, he reported negative adjusted gross income in four out of six years. His reported earnings range from negative $32 million to $24 million.

2. The Trumps have contributed inconsistently to charity.

Trump’s charitable contributions declined during his presidency. He donated $1.8 million in 2017 and about half a million dollars in each of the next two years. In 2020, as many nonprofits stepped up their calls for donations as they worked to help victims of the coronavirus pandemic and the associated unemployment, the Trumps reportedly did not give money to charity.

Trump has repeatedly promised to donate his $400,000 annual salary for each year he served as president, and he generally contributes his salary to federal agencies. IRS rules say that taxpayers who give money to government agencies solely for public purposes can deduct those gifts as charitable contributions on their tax returns. Trump’s failure to take any charitable deductions in 2020 suggests that he did not donate his presidential salary that year and that if he did donate his salary for the two prior years, that would represent most of his giving charity every year.

A spokeswoman for Trump did not directly respond to questions from The Washington Post about the Trumps’ lack of a charitable deduction for his 2020 salary donations but noted that Trump has previously said he has given money from his salary that year to the National Park Service and the Department of Health and Human Services’ coronavirus response efforts.

From 2021: Did Trump give up his last months of White House salary?

3. Trump has bank accounts in several foreign countries and made money in many countries during his presidency.

Trump said in his tax filings that he completed the paperwork required of any American who has a foreign financial account worth more than $10,000. At various times, he said, he had such accounts in China, Ireland, the United Kingdom and St. Martin. He reports that he is making money in a longer list of foreign countries.

4. Why did Trump pay any taxes? Thanks to the Alternative Minimum Tax.

Trump has reported such large losses from his businesses that for many years, his tax bill would be $0 under ordinary rules for income taxes. But the United States has a system called the Alternative Minimum Tax that is meant to ensure that the very rich cannot get away with paying very low tax rates. In Trumps case, this alternative calculation method requires him to pay at least some taxes in more years than he otherwise would, by making him add some of his deductions back. on his income. The Trumps are among about 200,000 taxpayers subject to this method of calculating their taxes.

5. The Trumps supported the Presidential Election Campaign Fund.

On Trumps tax returns, the opening pages read, Occupation: Occupation of President and Wife: First Lady.

While Americans generally can’t choose what the government uses their tax dollars for, there is one exception: Every taxpayer can choose whether $3 of their taxes go to the Election Campaign Fund of the President.

The House Ways and Means Committee on December 30 released former president Donald Trump’s tax returns, as he faces multiple federal and state investigations. (Video: Reuters)

Candidates for president can only tap into this fund if they agree to limit their own campaign fundraising in exchange for receiving federal funding. Trump did not participate; there has been no primary candidate since 2008.

But he and his wife, Melania, both chose to put $3 in the pot for future candidates to use making them the only 4 percent of Americans who chose to contribute to the fund in 2020. .

Want to know more? Read more about exit returns in our coverage here. See the congressional committees’ summary of their findings. And below, find the top numbers from each year of the Trumps’ taxes.

Adjusted gross income: -$31,756,435

Income tax and AMT: $2,127,670

Final tax bill after credits: $641,931

Total revenue: -$31,736,841

Adjusted gross income: -$32,409,674

Income tax and AMT: $2,234,725

Final tax bill after credits: $750

Total revenue: -$32,190,169

Adjusted gross income: -$12,916,948

Income tax and AMT: $7,435,857

Final tax bill after credits: $750

Total revenue: $12,819,400

Adjusted gross income: $24,395,093

Income tax and AMT: $8,356,232

Final tax bill after credits: $999,466

Total revenue: $24,395,093

Adjusted gross revenue: $4,380,714

Income tax and AMT: $558,780

Final tax bill after credits: $133,445

Adjusted gross income: -$4,795,757

Income tax and AMT: 0

Final tax bill after credits: 0

Total revenue: -$4,694,058

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