Does Trump not pay taxes? He made it sound that way

We still don't know what Donald Trump's tax returns show, because he still hasn't released them. So it wasn't unexpected that Hillary Clinton floated multiple theories Monday night for why that might be the case — including the prospect that he hadn't paid any taxes at all. What was perhaps a bit more unexpected was Trump's response: He did absolutely nothing to deny it. Just the opposite, in fact.

Here's the exchange:

CLINTON: Or maybe he doesn't want the American people, all of you watching tonight, to know that he's paid nothing in federal taxes, because the only years that anybody's ever seen were a couple of years when he had to turn them over to state authorities when he was trying to get a casino license, and they showed he didn't pay any federal income tax.

TRUMP: That makes me smart.

CLINTON: So if he's paid zero, that means zero for troops, zero for vets, zero for schools or health. And I think probably he's not all that enthusiastic about having the rest of our country see what the real reasons are, because it must be something really important, even terrible, that he's trying to hide.

And then:

CLINTON: And maybe because you haven't paid any federal income tax for a lot of years. (APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: It would be squandered, too, believe me.

For good measure, NBC's Katy Tur asked Trump about the issue after the debate. He deflected.

TUR: Do you pay federal income tax now?

TRUMP: My current returns will be released as soon as they [UNINTELLIGIBLE.]

TUR: Do you pay federal income tax now?

Trump had three chances to combat this charge; all three times, he opted not to dispute it. In fact, in the debate he made it sound a whole lot like he was defending it, saying "that makes me smart" if he gets out of paying taxes and that "it would be squandered" if the government got its hand on his money.

He didn't say, it bears noting, "that would make me smart." And "it would be squandered" is also the kind of thing he might say if he disclosed that he paid no taxes, and were forced to defend it.

Everyone except Donald Trump, his lawyers and the IRS are in the dark about what's in his taxes (and unless he decides otherwise, are likely to stay that way.) But from what we do know about Trump and his taxes, it's not terribly far-fetched to think that he might not pay taxes.

As The Post's Drew Harwell wrote back in May, a 1981 disclosure in a report by New Jersey gambling regulators showed Trump paid zero income taxes for two years in the late 1970s.

There is indeed a well-established way for real estate moguls like Trump to avoid doing so, through a complicated system of property valuation.

Clinton tried to turn the tables on this count on Monday night, arguing that paying no taxes would amount to hurting average Americans who are deprived of the tax dollars the billionaire might otherwise have contributed to valuable federal programs.

We may never know if Trump actually paid income taxes. He says he won't release his returns until he's no longer under audit. That's highly unlikely to happen in the next 40-plus days.