Story highlights Sanders says Trump left the burden of paying taxes to the middle class

Trump reportedly lost $916 million in 1995, allowing him to avoid taxes for up to 18 years

Washington (CNN) Bernie Sanders hammered Donald Trump over a New York Times report that he could have avoided paying federal income taxes for 18 years after declaring a $916 million loss on his 1995 tax return.

"This is exactly why so many millions of Americans are frustrated. They're angry, they're disgusted, at what they see as a corrupt political system in this country," the Vermont senator told CNN's Jake Tapper on "State of the Union."

Trump has refused to release his tax returns. But the 1995 records, obtained by The New York Times, showed him posting a loss large enough that he could offset it by legally avoiding paying income taxes for an 18-year period.

The paper did not look at his federal return. It obtained one page of his New York State resident income tax return as well as the first page of New Jersey and Connecticut nonresident returns.

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