Trump Refuses In Debate To Say How Many Years He Paid No Income Taxes

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, left, and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump arrive before the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016. (Rick ... Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, left, and Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump arrive before the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016. (Rick T. Wilking/Pool via AP) MORE LESS
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In the presidential debate Sunday in St. Louis, Donald Trump would not say how many years he was able not to pay federal income taxes.

When asked directly – “Can you say how many years you have avoided paying personal federal income taxes?” – Trump flat out refused.

“No, but I pay tax and pay federal tax, too,” Trump said, demurring on federal income taxes.

Trump’s income taxes have become a major theme of the campaign as Trump has refused to release his personal income tax returns to the public in disregard of a long tradition of transparency.

The New York Times did publish a portion of Trump’s 1995 tax return earlier this month, which showed that Trump had reported more than $900 million in operating losses that would have allowed him not to pay taxes for the following 15 years.

Trump added Sunday, “I have a write-off, a lot of it is depreciation.”

Trump was asked directly “did you use the loss to avoid paying personal federal income taxes?”


“Of course I do,” Trump said. “So do all of her donors or most of her donors. I know many of her donors. They took massive tax writeoffs.”

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