23/10/20

US: Trump says he prepaid ‘millions and millions’ in taxes.

As published on politico.com, Thursday 22 October, 2020.

President Donald Trump said he had prepaid millions in taxes to explain why documents reported by the New York Times showed he had only paid $750 in federal income tax in 2016.

“Deep down in the IRS, they treat me horribly,” Trump said at Thursday night's presidential debate. “We made a deal. It was all settled until I decided to run for president. I get treated very badly by the IRS. Very unfairly.

"But we had a deal all done. As soon as we're completed with the deal — I want to release it. But I have paid millions and millions of dollars. And it's worse than paying. I paid in advance. It's called prepaying your taxes.”

However, it wasn’t immediately clear what Trump meant when he said he paid in advance. Many people do make estimated tax payments to the IRS periodically during the year.

Trump said he is committed to releasing his tax returns once he is no longer under audit, according to the advice of his accountant, but he did not provide a timeline for when that would happen.

Trump also called the $750 a “filing fee." However, the IRS does not charge a fee for filing taxes.

The Times, which said it had access to Trump’s tax return data, reported that the taxes due line was $750 for 2016 and 2017.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has released 22 years of tax returns as part of his presidential campaign.

“You have not released a single solitary year of your tax returns. What are you hiding? Why are you unwilling?” Biden asked Trump.

“The foreign countries are paying you a lot. Russia's paying you a lot. China's paying you a lot. … Release your tax returns or stop talking about corruption.”