Donald Trump's tax records exposed

The transparency of candidate Donald Trump's tax returns and income tax payments has become a hot topic in the 2016 US presidential election.

The New York Times has just revealed remarkable information related to candidate Donald Trump's tax records.

Mr. Donald Trump. Photo: Twitter.

According to the New York Times of the United States, over the past four decades, every presidential candidate of the major US political parties has released his or her income tax return or at least a summary, before the vote.

If Mr. Trump does not do so, he will become the first presidential candidate to refuse to provide tax transparency, as candidate Richard M. Nixon did in the 1968 and 1972 elections.

The New York Times recently obtained three pages of Mr. Trump’s 1995 tax returns from the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. This is the first time the actual tax returns of the American billionaire have been publicly disclosed.

But many of his current financial documents remain opaque because they don't include supporting documents, or pages of federal tax returns, and they're from two decades ago.

According to the American newspaper, because Mr. Trump relies on his business career to win over voters, making his personal tax documents transparent will help voters have a correct view.

The newspaper compared: Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, along with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, have released their annual tax returns. Even Trump’s running mate, Indiana Governor Mike Pence, recently released his tax returns for the past 10 years.

Trump himself has poked fun at 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney for his slow release of his tax returns, and in January 2012, Trump loudly advised Romney to "release his records now."

Now, according to what it has in hand, the New York Times announced:

In 1995, his tax return showed that Mr. Trump claimed a $916 million business loss so he could use it to waive taxable income for up to 18 years.

Between 1991 and 1993, reports from the New Jersey Gaming Commission show that Trump declared losses that could have allowed him to avoid paying income taxes. This was a period when Trump’s Atlantic City casino was in significant financial trouble. Declaring these losses could have helped Trump reduce or eliminate his income taxes in later years.

1984 documents show Mr. Trump paid no federal income tax.

During 1978-1979, although Mr. Trump claimed to have assets of at least hundreds of millions of dollars, he paid no federal income tax, according to a 1981 report by the New Jersey State Commission.

According to a 1981 Casino Control Commission report, between 1975 and 1977, Mr. Trump paid more than $71,000 in federal income taxes on $218,000 in taxable income earned during those years.

The New York Times profile is clearly intended to push the Republican presidential candidate to release his income and tax returns, something he has repeatedly avoided or tried to divert attention to other issues.

Recently, the US news agency AP also reported that the American billionaire will only release this tax return in certain specific cases such as when he earns a large profit, when he needs to borrow money and when he is subject to a court order.

For example, according to the AP, Pennsylvania casino regulators received five years of Trump’s tax records “stuffed” into eight large cardboard boxes. Their counterparts in Nevada, Michigan, Missouri, and Indiana also received similar amounts. In fact, major banks that lent money to Trump also received his tax records.

But there is a general constraint on the provision of Mr. Trump’s tax documents: Those who receive them are not allowed to discuss the information in those documents without risking criminal charges.

Therefore, the American public has very little information about Mr. Trump's personal income tax issue./.

According to VOV