The New York Times, citing tax return data, said that US President Donald Trump paid only $ 750 in federal income taxes in 2016 and 2017, after reporting for years that his businesses had incurred heavy losses in order to balance his hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue.

The newspaper added that Trump - who rejected the report as "fake news" - had not paid income taxes for 10 years in the last 15 years, despite receiving $ 427.4 million in 2018 from his reality TV program and other deals.

The disclosure of that previous private tax information came more than a month before the November 3 elections between Trump and Democrat Joe Biden.

Trump denied the report during a White House press conference, describing it as "completely false news," referring again to the ongoing scrutiny as a reason not to reveal his revenues.

Alan Garten, a Trump Foundation attorney, said in a statement to the New York Times that Trump has paid millions of dollars in personal taxes over the past 10 years without affecting the specific income tax.

Donald Trump delivering a speech to AIPAC during his 2016 campaign (European News Agency)

Pelosi is convicted

Trump's continued refusal to disclose his taxes represents a abandonment of a routine presidential candidates take.

The law does not require US presidents to publish details of their financial statements, but all successive presidents since Richard Nixon have taken this step.

Trump is currently in a legal battle with New York City prosecutors and Democrats in Congress who are seeking his revenue.

The newspaper said Trump was able to reduce his tax bill by reporting heavy losses to his business empire.

It also reported that Trump reported losses of $ 47.4 million in 2018 despite saying in his financial statement that year that he had earned at least $ 434.9 million.

The newspaper stressed that the documents only reveal what Trump told the government about his business and did not reveal his real wealth.

It said it obtained tax return data that covers more than 20 years for Trump and the companies within his business establishment.

The newspaper had no information on his personal revenue in 2018 or 2019.

The "New York Times" obtained a copy of Trump's tax records, at a time when the latter is in a legal battle against investigators in New York City to prevent these records from being obtained.

The newspaper reported that Trump paid $ 750 in federal income tax in 2016 and a similar amount during his first year in the White House.

For her part, the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, accused Trump of tampering with the tax law and evading payment of what she owes.

Pelosi said in a statement that the New York Times report reveals the exceptional measures Trump has adopted to tamper with the tax law and pay his fair share of the tax while the rest of Americans do.

Pelosi explained that this report provides further evidence of the need to review the tax returns of the US President, and to verify that the Presidential Audit Program is performing its role effectively without any improper effect, as she put it.