Nearly half a million Maine households paid federal income tax two years ago, according to the most recent IRS statistics. The campaign of presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton hopes that number will resonate with voters as they consider the possibility that rival Donald Trump could have avoided paying any federal income tax for nearly two decades.
Overall, the IRS reports that Maine households owed close to $4 billion in federal income tax two years ago, before refunds. That’s almost four times what Trump claimed in casino and other investment losses on his 1995 tax return, according to records obtained by the New York Times.
Trump, who is attempting a historic split of Maine’s four electoral votes, canceled an appearance in Portland scheduled for Thursday. But that didn’t stop Clinton’s Maine campaign from localizing the tax revelations in a press release that equates Trump’s reported losses to what close to 60,000 Mainers paid in federal income tax two years ago.
Meanwhile, Clinton ripped her rival at a rally in Akron, Ohio, targeting the Republican’s oft-touted image as a successful businessman.
“And, you know, yesterday … some of his supporters said, ‘Well, it shows that he’s a genius that he didn’t pay any taxes,’” she said. “Well what kind of genius loses a billion dollars in the first place?”
Trump stuck to his defense at a rally in Pueblo, Colorado, saying that the federal tax laws are complex and unfair, but that he understands them and is therefore the right candidate to fix them.
“The unfairness of the tax laws is unbelievable. It’s something I’ve been talking about for a long time, despite being, frankly, a big beneficiary of the laws. But I’m working for you now, I’m not working for Trump … believe me,” he said.
Trump also recently said that he’s smart for tilting the tax system to his advantage.
Over the past several years, he has complained that the wealthy shoulder the brunt of the country’s tax burden, and he’s criticized President Barack Obama’s tax rate. Four years ago he tweeted, “Over half of Americans don’t pay income tax despite crippling government debt.”
Now Trump is blaming the political establishment for a tax code full of loopholes from which he says he’s benefited.
“All at the behest of their favorite donors and special interests who want certain provisions put in, and they won’t take no for an answer,” he said.
Trump has refused to release his taxes, citing the fact that he is under an audit, so it’s unclear what he currently pays or whether he took advantage of the so-called carry-forward provision that allows real estate developers to claim big losses and avoid paying taxes.
The real estate lobby has fought hard to secure such exemptions in the federal tax code. It spent nearly $100 million lobbying Congress two years ago, according data compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics.
