--- title: Donald Trump Tax Report Spawns #LastTimeTrumpPaidTaxes Meme description: Citizens of the Internet began reminiscing about what life was like when Donald Trump (maybe) paid federal taxes canonical: https://time.com/4515986/donald-trump-taxes-hashtag/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-10-02T18:07:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-07T06:49:03.381Z article:section: Politics og:title: The Internet Can't Stop Talking About the #LastTimeTrumpPaidTaxes og:description: Hammer pants were all the rage and cellphones were the size of bricks og:url: https://time.com/4515986/donald-trump-taxes-hashtag/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt176b5aecc6ec5a7a/6988a85aab6d773ecd6ab6cd/donald-trump-taxes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2560 og:image:height: 1440 og:image:alt: Campaign 2016-Trump-Taxes og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Internet Can't Stop Talking About the #LastTimeTrumpPaidTaxes twitter:description: Hammer pants were all the rage and cellphones were the size of bricks twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt176b5aecc6ec5a7a/6988a85aab6d773ecd6ab6cd/donald-trump-taxes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Internet Can't Stop Talking About the #LastTimeTrumpPaidTaxes > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=19b3f947-e45a-41a0-a6a1-e127e3a77823&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Leaked Donald Trump Records Show He May Not Have Owed Taxes for Years [Watch (HLS stream): Leaked Donald Trump Records Show He May Not Have Owed Taxes for Years](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/CdM9F5kN.m3u8) (0:51)  _Published 2016-10-02. Donald Trump may have been able to pay no federal income tax for more than a decade, according to a leaked partial tax return obtained by the New York Times._ by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 2, 2016 6:07 PM UTC Donald Trump may have been able to pay no federal income tax for more than a decade, according to a leaked partial tax return obtained by the New York Times. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 2, 2016 6:07 PM UTC Shortly after the [New York _Times_](http://time.com/4515840/donald-trump-tax-records-loss/?xid=homepage) published a bombshell report that revealed Donald Trump might not have paid federal income taxes for almost two decades, a hashtag was spawned. Citizens of the Internet began reminiscing about what life was like when The Donald (maybe) paid federal taxes, using the #LastTimeTrumpPaidTaxes hashtag. Pages from Trump’s 1995 tax returns were sent to a reporter at the [_Times_](http://time.com/4515840/donald-trump-tax-records-loss/?xid=homepage). The newspaper’s investigation found that the businessman’s claim that he’d lost $916 million in income was substantial enough to allow Trump to avoid paying income tax for 18 years. Meaning it’s possible that the last time Trump forked over tax money to the feds, Hammer pants were all the rage, cellphones were the size of bricks, and teens were rushing to theaters to watch the film _Clueless_. There was a Clinton in the White House—Bill—and Trump was more likely to guest appear in a feature film than on a cable news broadcast. It was a different time. Join the people of the Internet in taking a look back at the #LastTimeTrumpPaidTaxes > [](https://twitter.com/jenny%5Fthielen/status/782616634032816129) > [](https://twitter.com/kashanacauley/status/782407491128791040) > [](https://twitter.com/stephbencin/status/782573841583407104) > [](https://twitter.com/Sir%5FKLZA/status/782442004915556352) > [](https://twitter.com/goldietaylor/status/782406721943789568) > [](https://twitter.com/MarlowNYC/status/782406040390340608) The Trump campaign defended the candidate’s tax record in a written statement and via appearances by campaign surrogates on Sunday talk shows. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani said the _Times_ report [shows the “genius” of the candidate](http://time.com/4515946/donald-trump-surrogates-rudy-giuliani-chris-christie-genius-taxes/?xid=homepage) who he said “would have been a fool not to take advantage” of tax law. ## Transcript [00:39] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4515986/donald-trump-taxes-hashtag/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4515986/donald-trump-taxes-hashtag/"},"headline":"The Internet Can't Stop Talking About the #LastTimeTrumpPaidTaxes","datePublished":"2016-10-02T18:07:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-07T06:49:03.381Z","description":"Hammer pants were all the rage and cellphones were the size of bricks","url":"https://time.com/4515986/donald-trump-taxes-hashtag/","keywords":["2016 Election","2016 Election","2016","Taxes","Donald Trump","trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt176b5aecc6ec5a7a/6988a85aab6d773ecd6ab6cd/donald-trump-taxes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt176b5aecc6ec5a7a/6988a85aab6d773ecd6ab6cd/donald-trump-taxes.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Campaign 2016-Trump-Taxes","caption":"File-This June 7, 1995, file photo shows real estate magnate Donald Trump posing for photos above the floor of the New York Stock Exchange after taking his flagship Trump Plaza Casino public in New York City. 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