What the House committee report says about Trump's taxes
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Former President Trump speaks at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida on Nov. 15. Photo: Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg via Getty Images
A Democratic House committee on Tuesday released new federal tax data for former President Trump, showing that his financial situation varied dramatically through his presidency.
The big picture: The report came a vote by the House Ways and Means Committee to publicly release Trump's tax returns from 2015 through 2020, ending the ex-president's multiyear effort to shield the information.
- The couple's tax liability was an estimated $1.8 million over the six-year period, the Wall Street Journal reports. The figure is based on a narrower "net tax" figure, which excludes self-employment taxes, household employment taxes and some other taxes, per the Journal.
By the numbers: Over the six-year period, the annual amount that the president and first lady owed fluctuated significantly, according to the report.
- Trump and Melania Trump reported to the Internal Revenue Service negative total income of $31.7 million in 2015, with $0 in taxable income and a net tax liability of $641,931.
- In 2016, the couple reported a negative income of $32.2 million and $0 of taxable income and a net tax liability of $750.
- The couple reported a negative income of $12.8 million in 2017, with $0 in taxable income and a net tax liability of $750.
- The next year, they reported a total income of $24.4 million, with $22.9 million of taxable income and a net tax liability of $999,466.
- In 2019, they reported a total income of $4.4 million, with $2.97 million in taxable income and a net tax liability of $133,445.
- In 2020, they reported a negative income of $4.7 million, with $0 of taxable income and a net tax liability of $0. That same year, the couple claimed a tax refund of $5.47 million, CNBC reports.
Between the lines: The tax returns have not yet been released to the public, so it was not possible to independently verify the numbers presented in the report.
- The panel plans to release the returns to the public in the coming days.
Zoom out: In a separate report, the panel also said that the the IRS didn't audit Trump's taxes during the first two years of his presidency. The IRS is required to conduct mandatory reviews of presidents' tax returns.
Go deeper... Read: Report says IRS failed to properly audit Trump during his presidency
