Trump Claims Goal Was to Show Deep Losses for Tax Purposes
Comments come after report found Trump paid no income tax in eight of 10 years in the ’80s and ’90s
President Trump said Wednesday that the deep losses he reported for tax purposes in the 1980s and 1990s amounted to “sport,” citing write-offs and tax shelters allowed at the time to avoid taxes by the federal government.
Mr. Trump’s remarks on Twitter early Wednesday morning were made in response to a New York Times report from Tuesday that showed he had claimed loses of $1.17 billion from 1985 to 1994, and paid no income taxes in eight of those 10 years.
“You always wanted to show losses for tax purposes,” Mr. Trump said in a pair of early morning tweets. “Almost all real estate developers did—and often renegotiate with banks, it was sport.”