2020 race: Donald Trump slams bombshell tax claims as ‘fake news’

Donald Trump dismissed claims he only paid $US750 in income tax in 2016 and 2017 but didn’t discuss details about tax paid.

Donald Trump has slammed claims that he only paid $US750 in federal income tax in 2016 and 2017 as “fake news,” as a major report into his personal tax payments threatened to shake up the US presidential race.

The investigative report in the New York Times claimed to have examined more than two decades of tax returns which it says shows Mr Trump paid no federal income taxes in 11 out of 18 years and that in the first year of his presidency in 2017, he paid only $US750.

The NYT report said that, contrary to Mr Trump’s claims to be a successful businessman, most of his signature businesses lose large amounts of money, allowing him to minimise his taxes.

It said Mr Trump is still fighting the Internal Revenue Service over a $US72.9 million tax refund he got in 2010 and that if he loses that battle he could have to pay more than $US100 million.

The report does not accuse Mr Trump of breaking the law, but it says that despite Mr Trump being the richest president in history, he pays far less tax than his predecessors including Barack Obama and George W Bush.

Mr Trump.

Unlike other presidents, Mr Trump has repeatedly refused to disclose his tax records, raising questions about what they contain.

At a White House press briefing, Mr Trump dismissed the NYT report as “fake news” but did not discuss details about his federal tax payments.

“It’s fake news, it’s totally made up,” Mr Trump said. “Everything was wrong, they are so bad.

“I’ve paid a lot, and I paid a lot in state income taxes, too,” he said. “New York state charges a lot. And I’ve paid a lot of money in state.”

Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, said “The New York Times’ story is riddled with gross inaccuracies.

“Over the past decade the President has paid tens of millions of dollars in personal taxes to the federal government including paying millions in personal taxes since announcing his candidacy in 2015,” he said.

The New York Times did not release the documents upon which its story was based, saying such a move would endanger confidential sources.

The Times said more articles would be released in the coming weeks, with just five weeks left until the November 3 election.

The report was seized upon by the Democrats who believe it could damage the president in the final weeks of the campaign

Richard Neal, the Democrat chair of the House Ways and Means Committee which has tried to obtain Mr Trump’s tax records said: “It appears that the President has gamed the tax code to his advantage and used legal fights to delay or avoid paying what he owes. Now, Donald Trump is the boss of the agency he considers an adversary. It is essential that the IRS’s presidential audit program remain free of interference.”

Meanwhile both Mr Trump and his Democrat opponent Joe Biden have been preparing for the biggest moment so far in this campaign when they both take the stage in Cleveland, Ohio, on Wednesday (AEST) for their first presidential debate.

Both candidates will appear on the same stage far apart and there will be only about 90 people in the audience because of coronavirus health restrictions.

The debate comes at a time when Mr Biden is leading the president in national polls by seven points, a consistent lead which he has held for the past month.

The Trump campaign is hoping the three debates provide a chance for Mr Trump to change the momentum of the campaign in the final weeks.

The Trump team is also hoping that his nomination of conservative judge Amy Barrett for the vacant Supreme Court seat left by the late liberal justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg will help energise the president’s supporters.Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell has vowed to fast-track the confirmation process for the 48 year old Ms Barrett to ensure that she is confirmed before the election.

Ms Barrett’s confirmation would give the Supreme Court a 6-3 conservative majority, in line with Mr Trump’s 2016 election promise to appoint more conservative judges to the nation’s highest court.

(Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia)