Trump under pressure after Clinton releases 2015 tax returns

“In stark contrast, Donald Trump is hiding behind fake excuses and backtracking on his previous promise to release his tax returns”.

After weeks of pressuring Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump to reveal his tax returns, Hillary Clinton released her income tax returns on Friday.

Clinton’s campaign has released tax returns going back to 2007.

Clinton and her husband Bill, the former president, reported 10.6 million U.S. dollar in income for 2015.

The Trump campaign dismissed Clinton’s action, saying: “This document release is nothing more than an attempt at distraction and misdirection” from controversy about her use of a private email server when she was secretary of state.

Departing from 40 years of tradition for presidential candidates, Trump has so far refused to release any of his tax returns for public inspection.

It is customary for USA presidential candidates to make their tax returns public, although they are not required by law to do so.

In 2015 the Clintons made US$1m in charitable contributions, mostly to the Clinton Foundation; former president Bill Clinton brought in almost US$5.3m in speaking fees; and the former secretary of state reported income of US$3m for her book on her tenure at the State Department.

According to CNN, in 2015, the Clintons raked in around $10.6 million and paid $3.24 million in federal income taxes.

Kaine and his wife Anne Holton brought in $313,441 in 2015 and paid a tax rate of 25.6 percent. Over the past 10 years, the couple have donated 7.5 percent of their adjusted gross income to charity, according to the release.

As for Trump, his returns showing vast wealth wouldn’t be a political problem.

In 2015 the Clintons made US$1m in charitable contributions, mostly to the Clinton Foundation.

Seeking common ground with blue-collar workers who have been attracted to Trump, Clinton frequently mentions his returns as a way of underscoring how his economic plans would benefit his personal interests and questioning whether he’s as wealthy as he claims. He has said that his returns are now being audited and he will release his returns after it is completed.

Trump – launching a broadside at Clinton over her husband’s signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993, which Trump says cost American jobs – also took aim at one of his favorite targets: the media. She commanded her highest rate from EBay, which paid her $315,000 for a March 2015 address in San Jose. 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.

He also earned more than $17 million over the same period for consulting work for Laureate Education, Inc., another for-profit education system based in Baltimore that makes most of its profits from overseas operations. Several former students have sued a school operated by the company, alleging fraud.

Bill Clinton’s office previously said he had ended his consulting work with Laureate past year.