The last public tax filings from Donald Trump showed he paid no federal income taxes by taking advantage of a break often used by developers, The Washington Post reports.
A 1981 report by New Jersey gambling regulators said the real estate tycoon claimed that his total income for 1978 and 1979 was negative $3.8 million, so he didn’t owe taxes, the Post said.
The New Jersey report is the last time Trump’s returns were made public. The presumptive Republican presidential nominee has so far refused to release his tax returns, saying he won’t do so until the IRS completes an audit of him. He has also said there is “nothing to learn” from the filings.
The IRS has said that there is nothing that prevents someone from releasing their own tax information when they are being audited.
Politicians on both sides of the aisle have called for Trump to release his returns. 2012 GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney has said it’s “disqualifying” for the businessman not to release his returns and that there must be a “bombshell” in them.
Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton has repeatedly attacked Trump for refusing to release his tax returns. She has made more than 30 years of her returns public.
The Clinton campaign recently released a web video that suggested Trump’s returns could be hiding the fact that he’s not as rich as he says he is, he’s not paying his “fair share” of taxes or he doesn’t donate much to charity.