Megathread: Long-Concealed Records Show President Trump’s Losses and Years of Tax Avoidance

President Donald Trump paid just $750 in federal income taxes in both 2016 and 2017, and paid no income taxes in 10 of the previous 15 years, according to tax-return data obtained by The New York Times.<br><br>The tax-return data reveals that Mr. Trump’s finances were in disarray in 2016, and his huge losses in the early 2000s, chronicled previously by The Times, had left him with deep and chronic losses.<br><br>The new data for 2015 through 2017 shows that he made a combined profit of $4.8 million from licensing deals, and that he also took in $2.1 million in profits from what he described as “management, consulting and other services.” It’s not clear who paid him for those services, and his company did not respond to queries.<br><br>The tax records also show how the nature of the president’s business has shifted over time. In 2016 and 2017, the greatest shares of his income came first from the sale of his branded consumer goods — such as steaks, wine and bottled water — and second from inking licensing deals for use of his name on products owned and managed by others.<br><br>The president’s golf courses, a longtime focus of his business, have also proven to be a money drain on his operations and show no sign of becoming profitable soon. The four courses in Scotland and Ireland, for example, had a combined loss of $63.6 million in 2018, while his two courses in the United States reported a combined loss of $22.9 million.<br><br>While Mr. Trump’s businesses reported $1.9 billion in revenue from 2000 to 2018, he fell deeply in the red for several years after the financial crisis. In 2009, he reported $1.4 billion in business losses and in 2010 he topped that with $1.1 billion in losses. It appears to have taken him several years to recover from the losses on his casino holding company, which went bankrupt in 2009.<br><br>---Enforcement of the sub's rules is at the discretion of the moderators. Please report this post if you believe it has broken a rule. If you have any questions or concerns, please consult our FAQ or send the moderators a message. If you believe a moderator action was unjustified, please appeal to r/unpopularopinion.