Donald Trump labels New York Times' claim that he paid just $750 in income tax as 'fake news'

Donald Trump paid just $750 (£587) in federal income taxes during his first year as president, according to his tax returns obtained by The New York Times. He paid no income tax at all in 10 of the previous 15 years, the newspaper also reports. Speaking at a news conference on Sunday at the White House, Mr Trump dismissed the report as "fake news" and maintained he has paid taxes, though he gave no specifics. He also vowed that information about his taxes "will all be revealed", but he offered no timeline for the disclosure and made similar promises during the 2016 campaign on which he never followed through. Mr Trump has fought hard to keep his tax affairs private and, only last week, his legal team were in federal court trying to prevent Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr getting his hands on the records. He is the only modern president to refuse to release his tax returns, describing attempts to force him to open them up to public scrutiny as a “witch hunt”. The disclosure of Mr Trump’s financial affairs comes two days ahead of the first of the presidential election debates. His Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, released tax returns in July covering the two years following his departure from the White House. They showed that Mr Biden and his wife, Jill, earned $15 million. In all they paid $5.2 million in taxes in 2017 and 2018, about a third of their adjusted gross income. Mr Trump does not draw his $400,000 presidential salary, instead donating the money to various federal agencies. The New York Times said it had obtained Mr Trump’s tax information covering the past two decades. The newspaper was unable to obtain Mr Trump’s personal tax returns for 2018 and 2019. While Mr Trump sought to portray himself as a successful businessman, the information he provided to the Internal Revenue Service tells a very different tale, according to the newspaper. It says that Mr Trump’s finances are in trouble, with his businesses losing millions of dollars. There are also substantial debts which he has personally guaranteed. The New York Times also alleges that Mr Trump is still embroiled in an auditing dispute with the IRS dating back a decade over a $72.9 million tax refund he received. Should that battle be lost, Mr Trump could face a further $100 million tax bill. According to The New York Times, Mr Trump’s career as a TV celebrity was lucrative with "The Apprentice" and sponsorship deals earning him $427.4 million. However, many of Mr Trump’s businesses including his golf courses and hotels - which have been handed over to his family during his presidency - have run at a substantial loss. According to the newspaper, which described the data as a “road map of revelations”, Mr Trump has sought a number of tax write-offs including the cost of a criminal defence lawyer and the use of a mansion as a family retreat. Even though the findings have been disputed by the president’s legal team, the allegations could deal a serious blow to Mr Trump’s re-election chances. In 2016, during his election fight with Hillary Clinton, Mr Trump said that his not paying taxes showed he was “smart”. Mr Trump is still lagging in the polls with the latest survey, taken by Quinnipiac University published on Sunday putting him 10 points behind Mr Biden. Alan Garten, Mr Trump’s lawyer, questioned the newspaper’s findings in a statement. “Most, if not all, of the facts appear to be inaccurate,” he said. “Over the past decade, President Trump 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.” Prosecutor seeking Donald Trump's tax returns cites public allegations about his businesses Supreme Court says prosecutor can see Donald Trump's tax records, but nothing in public likely soon