Jose A Delreal David A Fahrenthold The Washington Post

Howard Abrams, the director of tax programs at the University of San Diego School of Law, confirmed that tax law allows losses of this size to be applied to returns three years prior to the loss and then for next 15 years. As a result, Trump would have potentially paid no taxes for an 18-year period.

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.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton clashed in unusually personal terms during a taboo-breaking first general-election presidential debate on Monday evening, with Clinton accusing Trump of pushing "racist lies" about President Barack Obama's birthplace, and Trump accusing Clinton of lacking the "stamina" to be president.

The first presidential debate of the 2016 general election campaign has begun in Hempstead, N.Y., where both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are hoping to re-shape a race that - so far - has been a contest about whom voters dislike the least.

Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican nomination for president on Thursday night, giving the biggest speech of his short political career - seeking to end a troubled, fractious GOP convention on a high note.

Howard Abrams, the director of tax programs at the University of San Diego School of Law, confirmed that tax law allows losses of this size to be applied to returns three years prior to the loss and then for next 15 years. As a result, Trump would have potentially paid no taxes for an 18-year period.

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.

Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton clashed in unusually personal terms during a taboo-breaking first general-election presidential debate on Monday evening, with Clinton accusing Trump of pushing "racist lies" about President Barack Obama's birthplace, and Trump accusing Clinton of lacking the "stamina" to be president.

The first presidential debate of the 2016 general election campaign has begun in Hempstead, N.Y., where both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are hoping to re-shape a race that - so far - has been a contest about whom voters dislike the least.

Donald Trump formally accepted the Republican nomination for president on Thursday night, giving the biggest speech of his short political career - seeking to end a troubled, fractious GOP convention on a high note.