A new report detailing Donald Trump's federal tax returns was released Tuesday, revealing that the former president paid little or no taxes over a six-year period.

The report reveals Trump declared a negative income in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2020. It also shows that the former president and wife Melania Trump paid no income tax for multiple years, according to the report released by the Joint Committee on Taxation.

The committee released the report online after the House Ways and Means Committee voted to make publicly available the redacted versions of Trump's full income tax returns and those of his eight related businesses through the 2015-2020 tax years.

Former US president Donald Trump has steadfastly refused to release his tax returns
AFP

In 2016, Trump declared a negative income of $31.2 million and paid only $750 in federal taxes. In 2020, the return showed that the couple reported negative revenues of $4.69 million, paid zero dollars in taxable income, and claimed a refund of $5.47 million.

The former president paid only $1,500 in income taxes in 2016 and 2017.

The returns showed a pattern of wealth inconsistency. In the middle two years of his presidency, Trump paid $1.1 million in federal taxes in 2018 and 2019, which is in stark contrast to the $750 he paid in 2017 and the no taxes paid in 2020.

The new report aligns with an extensive New York Times investigative article released in September 2020, which alleged that Trump claimed massive net losses for years. The net debt subsequently allowed him to pay nothing in federal income taxes.

The committee vehemently stated that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) failed to audit Trump's income effectively, resulting in the improper refunds.

"The research related to the mandatory audit program was nonexistent," committee chairman Richard Neal (D-MA) told reporters after the hearing.

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