Donald Trump on His Tax Rate: ‘It’s None of Your Business’
nytimes.com
Updated, 11:34 a.m. | Donald J. Trump said Friday that he doesn’t believe voters have a right to see his tax returns, and insisted it’s “none of your business” when pressed on what tax rate he himself pays — a question that tripped up Mitt Romney in the 2012 presidential race.Mr. Trump made the comments in an interview on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” as he continued to try to answer questions about his change in explanations over the last year about why he won’t release the taxes.
When the interviewer, George Stephanopoulos, asked Mr. Trump directly if he thought voters had a right to see his returns, something that presidential nominees have provided for roughly 40 years, the candidate replied, “I don’t think they do.”
Mr. Trump added: “But I do say this, I will really gladly give them — not going to learn anything but it’s under routine audit. When the audit ends I’ll present them. That should be before the election. I hope it’s before the election.”
When asked what effective tax rate he pays, Mr. Trump said: “It’s none of your business. You’ll see it when I release, but I fight very hard to pay as little tax as possible.”
Mr. Romney, who is also a businessman, delayed releasing many of his returns until September 2012, at which point they showed an effective tax rate that was much lower than most Americans pay. Mr. Trump has said in the last few years that Mr. Romney erred in waiting so long and should have done it sooner.
Also during the interview, Mr. Stephanopoulos pointed out that the Internal Revenue Service has said being audited is not prohibitive in terms of individual choice to make tax returns public, and that President Richard M. Nixon did so when he was being audited.
But he insisted that “people will learn nothing.”
</snip> Read more about what is none of your business on the Presumptive GOP Presidential Candidate (like his positions on anything) here: nytimes.com |
