The New York Times is fact-checking President Donald Trump after claiming he prepaid millions of dollars in federal income taxes.
“I PREPAID Millions of Dollars in FEDERAL INCOME TAXES!” Trump tweeted on Monday.
I PREPAID Millions of Dollars in FEDERAL INCOME TAXES!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 2, 2020
The New York Times published an article before election day to weigh in on how accurate the president’s claim is.
“As with much of what Mr. Trump has said about his taxes, however, his assertion about prepayments is misleading at best, and serves to distract from the reality — unaddressed in any of his public statements — that he has paid little or no federal income taxes most years, largely because his business losses far outweighed his profits,” reporters Susanne Craig and Mike McIntire wrote.
The New York Times published a report in September alleging he only paid $750 in income tax in 2016 and 2017 and that he did not pay income tax for 10 out of the past 15 years, as IJR previously reported.
Trump denied the report.
“That is fake news. It’s totally fake news. Made up, fake,” the president said.
He added, “Actually I pay tax and you will see that as soon as my tax returns, it’s under audit, it’s been under audit for a long time. The IRS does not treat me well, they treat me like the Tea Party… they don’t treat me well, they treat me very badly.”
During the final presidential debate, Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden called on Trump to show Americans his tax records, as IJR previously reported.
“He’s been saying this for four years. Show us, just show us, stop playing around,” Biden said. “You’ve been saying for four years you’re going to release your taxes.”
The former vice president claimed Trump is either “not paying your taxes” or “you’re paying taxes that are so low.”
