Report: Trump paid $36.6 million in taxes to US govt in 2005

Leaked pages from Trump’s tax payments in 2005 show that he paid more than $36 million in taxes to the US government with an income of $153 million. 

In what many expected to be a bombshell report on President Donald Trump’s tax returns, the Daily Beast and MSNBC reported on Tuesday about leaked information on his tax payments in 2005.

The details were provided by investigative journalist David Cay Johnston, who said that the first two pages from Trump’s 1040 tax form were sent to him from an unknown source. On his website, Johnston said the pages revealed that Trump paid $36.6 million in taxes to the US federal government in 2005, with an income that year of $153 million.

Of the total amount in federal taxes, some $5.3 million was paid in income tax while the remaining $31 million was paid under the alternative minimum tax (AMT), a minimum threshold tax on top earners.

Johnston suggested that the president himself may have secretly provided him with the details of his 2005 taxes.

“Let me point out it’s entirely possible that Donald sent this to me,” he said to MSNBC’s host Rachel Maddow. “Donald has a long history of leaking material about himself when he thinks it’s in his interest.”

White House Blasts ‘Illegal’ Publishing of Returns

The White House however, expressed frustration over the publication and the report.

“You know you are desperate for ratings when you are willing to violate the law to push a story about two pages of tax returns from over a decade ago,” the White House stated.

“Mr. Trump paid $38 million dollars even after taking into account large scale depreciation for construction, on an income of more than $150 million dollars, as well as paying tens of millions of dollars in other taxes such as sales and excise taxes and employment taxes and this illegally published return proves just that,” the statement added.

“Despite this substantial income figure and tax paid, it is totally illegal to steal and publish tax returns,” the White House charged. “The dishonest media can continue to make this part of their agenda, while the president will focus on his, which includes tax reform that will benefit all Americans.”

Claims Against President Disproved, Says Trump Jr.

Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., expressed glee in several statements on Twitter over the revelations, saying that they disproved any allegations made against Trump regarding his tax payments.

“Watching the media aka #fakenews implode on tv now because they got what they wanted is simply awesome,” he wrote on Twitter, also thanking MSNBC host Rachel Maddow “for proving to your Trump hating followers how successful (Donald Trump) is and that he paid $40m in taxes!”

By: Jonathan Benedek, World Israel News

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