--- ---  # Report: Donald Trump Took Advantage of Controversial Tax Loophole  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Nov 1, 2016 12:48 PM UTC  Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump holds a campaign rally at Macomb Community College South Campus on Oct. 31, 2016 in Warren, Michigan. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump holds a campaign rally at Macomb Community College South Campus on Oct. 31, 2016 in Warren, Michigan.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Nov 1, 2016 12:48 PM UTC Donald Trump [used a controversial loophole](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/us/politics/donald-trump-tax.html) to avoid reporting hundreds of millions of dollars in taxable income in the early 1990s, according to a new report. Because of the loophole, Trump possibly avoided paying tens of millions of dollars in federal personal income taxes, the New York _Times_ reported Monday. The legally questionable loophole he used has since been outlawed, and at the time, Trump’s lawyers cautioned that the Internal Revenue Service would likely declare the maneuver improper, according to the _Times_. There’s no suggestion Trump broke the law, however. These findings come after Trump [admitted](http://fortune.com/2016/10/09/presidential-debate-donald-trump-taxes-2/) to using a [$916 million loss](http://time.com/4515840/donald-trump-tax-records-loss/) in 1995 to avoid paying federal income taxes. The Republican presidential nominee has yet to release [his tax returns](http://fortune.com/2016/08/05/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-donald-trumps-tax-returns/), bucking a decades-old [presidential tradition](http://time.com/4326267/donald-trump-presidential-tax-returns-list/) and prompting suggestions that he could be “[hiding something](http://fortune.com/2016/03/02/donald-trump-tax-returns-income/).” He has repeatedly said he will release them after the IRS completes a “routine audit,” but the audit does not prevent him from releasing the returns. [Read more in the New York _Times_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/01/us/politics/donald-trump-tax.html) Donald Trump Avoided Reporting Millions in Taxable Income ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4552941/donald-trump-loophole-tax-income/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4552941/donald-trump-loophole-tax-income/"},"headline":"Report: Donald Trump Took Advantage of Controversial Tax Loophole","datePublished":"2016-11-01T12:48:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:32:35.498Z","description":"The loophole, which has since been outlawed, may have saved him tens of millions of dollars in early '90s","url":"https://time.com/4552941/donald-trump-loophole-tax-income/","keywords":["Donald Trump","2016 Election topic"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3829afdb737cdd9/6988ac6afb4eac221388fb0b/donald-trump-tax-loophole.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf3829afdb737cdd9/6988ac6afb4eac221388fb0b/donald-trump-tax-loophole.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"GOP Presidential Nominee Donald Trump Campaigns In Michigan","caption":"GOP Presidential Nominee Donald Trump Campaigns In Michigan","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4552941/donald-trump-loophole-tax-income/","name":"Report: Donald Trump Took Advantage of Controversial Tax Loophole"}}]}] ```