NYT (Democrats-Hillary Clinton): Trump could have avoided paying taxes for 18 years, report on tax records says

The Chicago Tribune reports:

Donald Trump declared a loss of $916 million on his income tax returns for 1995, and - because of tax rules that favor wealthy real estate investors - he could have used that loss to avoid paying any federal income taxes for up to 18 years, according to a report in the New York Times.

The Times' report said that the enormous loss Trump reported in 1995 - $916 million - seemed to be a holdover from the early 1990s, when his real estate and casino empire tottered and almost fell.

By 1995, Trump's businesses were actually in better shape. But he was able to use byzantine tax laws to use those prior losses to cancel out income taxes. By the Times' calculations, Trump might have been able to earn $50 million a year for 18 years and still pay no federal income taxes - thanks to this one giant loss, and the resulting deductions.

"Could".