A White House spokesperson has confirmed that President Donald Trump filed for an extension on his 2016 tax return. The president has refused requests to release his previous returns and has made conflicting statements in regards to whether or not he ever intends to release them. During one interview, he stated that he had no intention of releasing them, because he has already released enough information in regards to his finances. However, in another interview he said that he is currently under audit and that once the IRS completes the audit he will release them.
The returns are the subject of much speculation, as they could provide more in-depth insight into Trump’s financial ties and potential conflicts of interest. Donald Trump is the first president in decades to not release his tax returns.
The few Trump tax returns the public has seen weren’t released by him, but disclosed by news outlets. Two leaked pages of his 2005 return that came out in March didn’t include full details on income and deductions, but did show that he would have substantially benefited by an elimination of the alternative minimum tax — a feature of his just-outlined tax plan. And three pages that surfaced last year showed that he had claimed a $916 million loss on his 1995 return, which could be used to reduce his taxes by offsetting later gains.
Back in May, the President’s lawyers released a letter asserting that the past 10 years of Trump’s federal tax returns “with a few exceptions” don’t show any income from Russian sources. The letter also asserted that the returns show no debt owed to or interest paid to Russian lenders by Trump or his business entities. In addition, the letter provides that the returns show no Russian investments in Trump’s businesses or any investment by Trump or the entities he controls in Russian businesses. Since Trump’s Returns have not been released to anyone outside of his circle, this information could not be confirmed.
Tax Day this year was on April 18. The Internal Revenue Service allows individuals and businesses to apply for a six-month extension to get more time to file a return. An extension does not provide more time to pay taxes.
