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Donald Trump’s business losses mean he might have avoided paying taxes: report

Click to play video: 'Trump’s 1995 tax records suggest he paid no federal taxes for years: N.Y. Times'
Trump’s 1995 tax records suggest he paid no federal taxes for years: N.Y. Times
The New York Times reports that Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump's 1995 income tax return suggests he may have paid no income taxes for up to 18 years. Reuters' Diane Hodges reports – Oct 2, 2016

WASHINGTON – Donald Trump’s business losses in 1995 were so large that they could have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for as many as 18 years, according to records obtained by The New York Times.

In a story published online late Saturday, the Times said it anonymously received the first pages of Trump’s 1995 state income tax filings in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The filings show a net loss of $915,729,293 in federal taxable income for the year.

READ MORE: When Donald Trump goes off script, his troubles begin

WATCH: Responding to an attack from Donald Trump on the fiscal policies of President Obama, Hillary Clinton implied part of the reason the U.S. is in debt is because he hasn’t paid federal income taxes – a charge Trump didn’t exactly refute.
Click to play video: 'Presidential debate: Hillary Clinton implies Donald Trump doesn’t pay income taxes'
Presidential debate: Hillary Clinton implies Donald Trump doesn’t pay income taxes

That Trump was losing money during the early to mid-1990s — a period marked by bankruptcies and poor business decisions — was already well established. But the records obtained by the Times show losses of such a magnitude that they potentially allowed Trump to avoid paying taxes for years, possibly until the end of the last decade.

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WATCH: Trump is a “genius,” poor people also ‘take advantage’ of tax loopholes: Giuliani.
Click to play video: 'Trump is a “genius,” poor people also ‘take advantage’ of tax loopholes: Giuliani'
Trump is a “genius,” poor people also ‘take advantage’ of tax loopholes: Giuliani

Trump’s campaign released a statement on Saturday lashing out at the Times for publishing the records and accused the newspaper of working to benefit the Republican nominee’s presidential rival, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

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“The New York Times, like establishment media in general, is an extension of the Clinton campaign, the Democratic Party and their global special interests,” the campaign said, calling Trump “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.”

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The statement added that Trump had paid “hundreds of millions” of dollars in other kinds of taxes over the years.

Clinton’s campaign manager, Robby Mook, used the Times story to needle Trump about not releasing his tax returns and contending during his first debate with Clinton that not paying federal income taxes would show he was “smart.”

Mook said in a statement that Trump apparently avoided paying taxes for two decades “while tens of millions of working families paid theirs. He calls that ‘smart.'” Mook added: “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?”

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Since 1976, every major party presidential nominee has released tax returns. Clinton has publicly released nearly 40 years’ worth, and Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, has released 10 years of his tax returns.

But after initially saying that he would make his returns public during the course of his campaign, Trump switched course, citing what he said were years of ongoing IRS audits and the advice of his attorneys to keep them private as those audits proceed.

Former IRS officials have expressed skepticism that anyone would be audited so frequently, and they and other tax experts say there’s no prohibition on Trump releasing his returns even if he is.

WATCH: Trump ‘gaming the system’ by not paying taxes: Clinton

Click to play video: 'Trump ‘gaming the system’ by not paying taxes: Clinton'
Trump ‘gaming the system’ by not paying taxes: Clinton

In its story, the Times said the three pages of documents were mailed last month to a Times reporter who had written about Trump’s finances. A postmark indicated they had been sent from New York City and the return address claimed the envelope had been sent from Trump Tower, the newspaper said.

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Trump’s campaign did not directly address the authenticity of the excerpts from Trump’s tax filings. Former Trump accountant Jack Mitnick, whose name appears as Trump’s tax preparer of the filings, confirmed their authenticity, the newspaper reported.

On the campaign trail, Trump continued to veer from scripted economic arguments to personal attacks on Clinton.

At a rally Saturday night, Trump questioned Clinton’s loyalty to her husband, adding an explosive personal charge against his Democratic opponent to a turbulent week when he repeatedly veered off script.

READ MORE: ‘Fear of Trump’ not enough for Clinton to win over some Sanders supporters

“Hillary Clinton’s only loyalty is to her financial contributors and to herself,” Trump told thousands gathered in Manheim, Pennsylvania. “I don’t think she’s even loyal to Bill if you want to know the truth … Why should she be, right? Why should she be?”

Trump also seized on a leaked recording from a Clinton fundraiser in February, where she expressed empathy for young voters who were siding with her primary opponent, Bernie Sanders, saying that for people who don’t see any economic opportunities, the idea that “you could be part of a political revolution is pretty appealing.” The hacked recording was published Tuesday by the Washington Free Beacon

Clinton called them “children of the Great Recession” and added: “And they are living in their parents’ basement. They feel that they got their education and the jobs that are available to them are not at all what they envisioned for themselves.”

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Trump sought to turn her words into a new pitch for Sanders supporters, although Sanders himself has endorsed Clinton and denounced Trump. The businessman contended Saturday that the audio shows Clinton “demeaning and mocking Bernie Sanders and all of his supporters” and added: “To sum up, Hillary Clinton thinks Bernie Sanders supporters are hopeless and ignorant basement dwellers.”

WATCH: Presidential debate: Trump will release his income tax returns when Clinton releases her ‘33,000 emails’
Click to play video: 'Presidential debate: Trump will release his income tax returns when Clinton releases her ‘33,000 emails’'
Presidential debate: Trump will release his income tax returns when Clinton releases her ‘33,000 emails’

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Associated Press writers Steve Peoples in Manheim, Pennsylvania, and Catherine Lucey in White Plains, New York contributed to this report.

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