Clinton releases tax return, blasts Trump for not doing so

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US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton slams rival Donald Trump saying he has 'no plan' as she campaigns in Pennsylvania with Vice-President Joe Biden.
US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speaks at Futuramic Tool & Engineering in Warren, Michigan, on August 11. PHOTO: REUTERS

WASHINGTON • Democratic White House candidate Hillary Clinton has released her 2015 tax return and criticised her Republican rival Donald Trump for bucking a longstanding tradition by failing to do the same.

Mrs Clinton and her husband Bill, the former president, reported US$10.6 million (S$14.3 million) in income for last year. They paid US$3.6 million in federal income tax, according to the document, which was posted on her campaign website on Friday.

Over the course of their careers, the Clintons have published all of their tax returns since 1977. Democrats repeatedly point to this as evidence of transparency on the part of the power couple.

"Donald Trump is hiding behind fake excuses and backtracking on his previous promises to release his tax returns," Clinton campaign communications director Jennifer Palmieri said. "What is he trying to hide?"

Mr Trump has so far declined to release his, arguing that his tax returns for the past several years are being audited.

The real estate mogul's campaign said that Mrs Clinton's move to release her tax returns "is nothing more than an attempt at distraction and misdirection".

Trump senior communications adviser Jason Miller said in a statement that Americans would rather see deleted e-mails from Mrs Clinton's private server, Clinton Foundation records and transcripts of speeches she gave to Wall Street business people.

Democrats hint that by not releasing his tax returns, Mr Trump may be trying to hide that he pays little to no tax, makes less money than he claims or gives a negligible amount to charity.

Mr Trump, 70, presented the Federal Election Commission with a mandatory personal financial disclosure form in May and says this is enough.

That document gave only an estimate of his assets, liabilities and income.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, NEW YORK TIMES

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on August 14, 2016, with the headline Clinton releases tax return, blasts Trump for not doing so. Subscribe