“Here’s a pretty incredible fact: There is a non-zero chance that Donald Trump isn’t paying (asterisk) any (asterisk) taxes”, Clinton tweeted, after releasing her own returns. “What is he trying to hide?”.
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The figures show Hillary and Bill Clinton earned almost $11m in 2015, and paid a total of 43.2% tax.
In a statement accompanying the release, Clinton spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri noted that this release stands “in stark contrast” to Trump’s refusal to release his tax filings, as has been standard procedure for decades.
On Thursday, Trump’s special counsel, Michael Cohen, told CNN he would not allow Trump to release them until the audits are complete.
The returns show that the Clintons’ made about $10 million last year, which is a significant drop from the year before, when the duo reported a combined income of about $28 million.
Trump and his lawyer have said the IRS is auditing his returns, so he can’t or won’t release them, although there is no legal prohibition on releasing returns that are being audited. Critics slammed Trump this week for appearing to suggest that gun-rights supporters could shoot Clinton to prevent her from appointing federal judges as president, and he drew criticism for standing by a false claim that President Barack Obama founded the Islamic State. Of their total gross income past year, the former president and the current Democratic nominee gave almost 10 percent to charity. Clinton has endorsed a rule named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett that would ensure those making more than $1 million a year pay a tax rate of at least 30 percent.
Clinton is releasing the returns for two reasons: transparency and the opportunity to bash Donald Trump. The New York businessman has declined so far to release his income tax data, saying that will not do so while he is facing an audit from the Internal Revenue Service – a highly unusual move for a major party candidate.
The Clintons have disclosed returns for every year dating back to 1977.
This past Monday was supposed to be a turning point for Donald Trump.
Bill spent $500,000 in travel as part of the speaking portion of his business, Hillary had about $250,000 in travel expenses for her speaking business.
Bill Clinton’s consulting work for GEMS Education, a global network of for-profit schools based in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, earned him more than $5.6 million in fees between 2010 and 2015, according to the tax returns.
Of the the $1,042,000 the Clintons gave to charity as listed on their return, $1 million of that went to the Clinton Family Foundation.
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Their tax return showed the Clintons paid an effective federal tax rate of 34.2 percent and an effective state and local tax rate of 9 percent, totaling a combined tax rate of 43.2 percent for previous year, according to the Clinton campaign. However, Trump previously had said he wanted USA troops out years earlier than Obama withdrew them.
