Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump declared a $916 million loss on his 1995 income tax returns, a deduction that "could have allowed him to legally avoid paying federal income taxes for up to 18 years," The New York Times reports.
The newspaper stated it hired tax experts to analyze Trump's 1995 tax records, which have never been disclosed.
Trump’s taxable income included in subsequent years is not yet known, but “a $916 million loss in 1995 would have been large enough to erase more than $50 million a year in taxable income over 18 years,” according to the Times report.
"Mr. Trump is a highly skilled businessman who has a fiduciary responsibility to his business, his family and his employees to pay no more tax than legally required," Trump's campaign said in a statement to the Times. "That being said, Mr. Trump has paid hundreds of millions of dollars in property taxes, sales and excise taxes, real estate taxes, city taxes, state taxes, employee taxes and federal taxes."
Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's campaign manager, Robby Mook, released the following statement in response to the report:
"In one year, Donald Trump lost nearly a billion dollars. A billion," Mook said. "He stiffed small businesses, laid off workers, and walked away from hardworking communities. And how did it work out for him? He apparently got to avoid paying taxes for nearly two decades – while tens of millions of working families paid theirs. He calls that 'smart.' Now that the gig is up, why doesn't he go ahead and release his returns to show us all how 'smart' he really is?"
>> Read the full statement here
On Sunday morning, Trump fired back on Twitter.
"I know our complex tax laws better than anyone who has ever run for president and am the only one who can fix them. #failing@nytimes," he wrote, adding, "I have created tens of thousands of jobs and will bring back great American prosperity. Hillary has only created jobs at the FBI and DOJ!"
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