micdotcom:
Trump paid $38 million tax on $150 million income in 2005, report and White House say
On Tuesday evening, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow released partial documents from one of Trump’s tax returns showing the president paid $38 million on over $150 million in income from his business and media empire in 2005.
A simultaneous report on the Daily Beast, where Johnston is a contributor, showed Trump and his wife Melania paid a cumulative $5.3 million in regular income taxes, a rate of under 4%, and another $31 million in the “alternative minimum tax,” a tax for individuals and organizations with special circumstances that allow them to pay a lower rate.
That means, in 2005, Trump paid net federal taxes of roughly 25.33%. As the Daily Beast noted, Trump appears to have taken advantage of a $916 million loss from his casino businesses in 1995 to lower his overall tax burden even as late 2005.
The two pages of Trump’s 2005 were released on Johnston’s website, though it was crashing from heavy traffic as of Tuesday evening.
In response, the White House gave an identical quote to several media organizations confirming that Trump paid $38 million on his 2005 tax bill, Reuters’ Jennifer Ablan reported. The White House added the president had a responsibility to “pay no more than legally required.” Read more (3/14/17 9:35 PM)
Update: Trump wants to get rid of the alternative minimum tax. Now we know why.
On Tuesday, MSNBC revealed part of President Donald Trump’s 2005 tax returns, which showed that Trump paid $38 million on $150 million worth of income that year.
The majority of that bill — $31 million — is based on a tax designed to make rich people pay their fair share.
It also just happens to be one of the many taxes Trump wants to abolish. Trump’s tax plan from his 2016 presidential campaign called for the elimination of the alternative minimum tax as well as a reduction of federal income tax rates overall. Read more (3/14/17 10:25 PM)