Billionaire Warren Buffett released some of his personal tax information in response to Donald Trump’s attack on his tax deductions and criticized the Republican nominee for not sharing his own tax returns.
During Sunday’s presidential debate, Trump said, “Warren Buffett took a massive deduction,” while Trump defended his own reported $916 million loss in 1995 that may have allowed him to avoid paying federal income taxes for years. Buffett fired back on Monday, saying Trump “has not seen my income tax returns. But I am happy to give him the facts.”
“I have paid federal income tax every year since 1944, when I was 13,” Buffett said in a statement that detailed his tax information from 2015. “I have copies of all 72 of my returns and none uses a carryforward.”
Buffett, who supports Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, challenged Trump to release his tax returns.
“I have been audited by the IRS multiple times and am currently being audited,” Buffett said. “I have no problem in releasing my tax information while under audit. Neither would Mr. Trump—at least he would have no legal problem.”
Trump, the only major party nominee since 1980 to not release tax returns, has repeatedly blamed an ongoing IRS audit as a reason for his delay, although the IRS has said there is no restriction on releasing tax returns under audit.
