Clinton camp seizes on latest NYT report on Trump’s taxes
Hillary Clinton’s campaign doubled down on its criticism of Donald Trump Tuesday, following a report detailing his “legally dubious” tax avoidance strategy.
The New York Times reported Monday night that Trump used a tax avoidance maneuver in the 1990s which his own lawyers warned would likely be declared improper if he were audited. Congress later banned such equity-for-debt swaps.
{mosads}”In the wake of a blockbuster report showing that even Trump’s own lawyers thought the IRS would likely find the ‘legally dubious’ scheme he used to avoid taxes was against the law, the Trump campaign still refuses to release his tax returns,” Hillary for America Deputy Communications Director Christina Reynolds wrote in a Tuesday release.
“While breaking a precedent running for 40 years, Trump has clung to the excuse that he is under audit, despite no proof that he is and no prohibition for releasing returns under audit. Given that Trump was required to file his 2015 taxes recently, he has no reason to withhold it since it is too soon for him to possibly be under audit for those year,” she continued.
“There’s no excuse left for Trump—if he’s not still using these ‘dubious’ schemes to avoid paying taxes, he needs to prove it with his most recent tax returns.”
The Clinton campaign statement included the entire Times article, while outlining the key points of the report.
The most crucial finding of the article, as outlined and quoted by the Clinton team, is that, “Mr. Trump avoided reporting hundreds of millions of dollars in taxable income by using a tax avoidance maneuver so legally dubious his own lawyers advised him that the Internal Revenue Service would likely declare it improper if he were audited.”
The Democratic Nominee’s campaign also pointed out several sources who were interviewed by the Times, including the former chief of staff for Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation, who said that Trump “violated a central principle of American tax law” by deducting “somebody else’s losses.”
Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, echoed the Clinton campaign’s criticism on Tuesday.
“Every story that comes out about Donald Trump’s reported tax dodging and ties to Russia is a fresh reminder of the outrageous fact that he is refusing to release his tax returns to the public,” Wyden said in a statement.
“I believe the Congress has a responsibility to address the unfairness in our tax code that allows wealthy individuals like Mr. Trump to decide how much tax to pay and when to pay it. It’s time for the games to end,” Wyden added.
The Trump campaign on Monday pushed back on the report, stating the article is “a criticism, not just of Mr. Trump, but of all taxpayers who take the time and spend the money to try to comply with the dizzyingly complex and ambiguous tax laws without paying more tax than they owe.”
Trump has refused to release his tax returns throughout the campaign, citing an ongoing IRS audit.
—Updated at 5:38 p.m.