FORMER United States Vice President, Joe Biden, has published his financial statements for the past 22 years – revealing he paid $288,000 in federal income taxes in 2019.
It comes after the bombshell revelations that President Trump paid only $750 in federal income tax in both 2016 and 2017.
Trump has long refused to release his tax returns, falsely claiming that he is prevented from doing so because he is “under audit.”
Biden has now released his tax returns for the past 22 years.
According to the New York Times, Biden and his wife, Jill, paid $288,000 on income of $985,000 last year.
In 2017, when their combined income amounted to $11 million, they paid $3.7 million in income tax.
And in 2016, when their income was $396,000, they paid $91,000 in federal income tax.
Meanwhile, the Biden campaign has launched a “Trump Tax Calculator” ahead of tonight’s head to head debate in Cleveland Ohio.
The website allows voters to enter how much they paid in income tax in 2017 – before revealing how much more they paid than Donald Trump did the same year.
According to the New York Times’ four-year investigation, the President paid no income taxes at all in 11 of the last 18 years.
The President reportedly “concealed records” showing “Trump’s chronic losses and years of tax avoidance”.
It is claimed he reduced his bill with “questionable measures”, including a £57.11 million tax refund that is the subject of an audit by the Internal Revenue Service.
The New York Times writes: “Many of his signature businesses, including his golf courses, report losing large amounts of money – losses that have helped him to lower his taxes.”
They claimed the money he owed was placing such a financial pressure because he personally guaranteed payments were due soon.
Despite his losses, Trump managed to enjoy a lavish lifestyle by taking tax deductions on what most people would consider personal expenses, including residences, aircraft and £55,000 on a hairdresser for his television appearances.
His daughter Ivanka Trump, while working as an employee of the Trump Organisation, appears to have received “consulting fees” that also helped reduce the family’s tax bill.
Trump denied the report on Sunday, calling it “total fake news” at a White House news conference.
– mirror.co.uk
