Donald Trump earned more than $30 million from the TV show “The Apprentice” in 2005, a huge payday that rivals the sums paid to the biggest stars on screen. That payment helps explain why Trump made a large federal income-tax payment that year, as revealed in the recently leaked tax documents that shed new light on Trump’s income and wealth.

Yahoo Finance has obtained financial data for “The Apprentice,” the reality show that first aired on NBC in 2004, showing costs, profits and payouts from 2004 through 2007, which were peak years in ratings and profits for the show. During that time, Trump, now president, earned $65 million in “participations,” which are like royalty payments based on the amount of revenue the show took in for product placements and international distribution. Trump earned millions more in salary during that time, for total earnings during those 4 years that likely neared or exceeded $100 million, or $25 million per year, on average.

Trump’s peak income from royalty payments relating to the show occurred in 2005, the same year his overall earnings totaled $153 million, according to the first two pages of his 1040 form that recently arrived in the mailbox of journalist David Cay Johnston. Trump paid $38 million in federal income tax that year, an apparent rebuke to Trump critics who claim he’s a chronic tax evader. That would amount to 25% of his income that year, an effective tax rate that’s much higher than investors who make most of their money from capital gains or private-equity holdings often pay.

View photos NEW YORK, NY – JAN. 05: Donald Trump attends the “Celebrity Apprentice” Red Carpet Event at Trump Tower on January 5, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Mike Pont/FilmMagic) More

Inflated earnings from ‘The Apprentice’

But that huge 2005 tax payment may have been an anomaly, with his tax bill inflated by earnings from “The Apprentice.” That income might have been taxed at the maximum rate—35% at the time—whereas Trump’s income from real-estate investments would have qualified for many deductions and offsets available to all commercial real-estate developers. In prior years, Trump used those generous real-estate tax breaks to lower his tax bill to 0.

So despite Trump’s big income-tax payment in 2005, it’s quite possible he paid much less in other years, as his income from “The Apprentice” dropped off. And if Trump’s large tax payment that year was an aberration, it would support speculation that Trump himself leaked the two-page summary of his 2005 tax return, to make it look like he paid more taxes in the past than he actually did.

In 2015, shortly after announcing his run for president, Trump’s campaign released a one-page summary of the candidate’s wealth claiming he earned $213 million on “The Apprentice” and its successor, “Celebrity Apprentice,” from 2004 through 2015. That would amount to about $18 million per year. Some critics say that figure is impossibly high. But the figures reviewed by Yahoo Finance show Trump did earn well over $18 million per year from the show at least twice.

Yahoo Finance obtained financial data resembling an income statement from 2003 through 2007 for “The Apprentice,” from a Los Angeles financier familiar with the show’s business operations. The show was produced by Mark Burnett Productions, with Trump as executive producer. The most profitable year for “The Apprentice” was 2005, when it generated $109 million in gross revenue, with production costs and other expenses of just $26.5 million–leaving a gross profit of $82.8 million. “It was a phenomenal year in terms of how much money he made as a TV performer on ‘The Apprentice,’” says the financier. “It was an amazing amount of money those guys got.”

Rich royalty payments

Product placement and sponsorships were a huge source of revenue for the show, with companies such as Home Depot, General Motors, Burger King and Domino’s paying a total of $45.8 million to the production company in 2005 for their merchandise to be featured or promoted in conjunction with the show. There was also merchandise, such as a $14 coffee mug emblazoned with Trump’s signature line from the show: “You’re fired!” That revenue amounted to 42% of the show’s earnings. Licensing fees paid by NBC accounted for just $26.2 million, or 24% of total revenue, by comparison. International distribution, which is usually minimal for reality shows, brought in another $19.9 million for “The Apprentice” in 2005, showing Trump’s global appeal. (MGM, which bought out Burnett’s company in 2015 and now owns the rights to the “Apprentice” franchise, declined to comment on the financial figures.)

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