Hillary Clinton released her 2014 and 2015 tax returns, increasing pressure on Donald Trump publish his own financial records.

The information, posted on the campaign website, shows that Ms Clinton paid a federal tax rate of 34.7 per cent and a local rate of 9 per cent in 2015.

They also show she and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, had $27.9m in 2014, which reduced to $10.6m the following year as she prepared her run for the White House.

Her Republican rival, the billionaire businessman, is under intense pressure to explain just how much tax he has paid.

“Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine continue to set the standard for financial transparency as she releases her 2015 personal tax return and builds on the Clintons’ tradition of making their returns public since 1977 and Kaine releases 10 years of his returns,” said Clinton campaign spokesperson Jennifer Palmieri.

The Clinton campaign speculates why Trump has not released his taxes

“In stark contrast, Donald Trump is hiding behind fake excuses and backtracking on his previous promises to release his tax returns. He has failed to provide the public with the most basic financial information disclosed by every major candidate in the last 40 years.

Mr Trump has repeatedly declined to share his tax information, claiming that he is currently undergoing an audit from the Internal Revenue Service. However, the IRS said: "Nothing prevents individuals form sharing their own tax information."

The release of tax information is generally expected of presidential candidates. Mr Trump is the first presidential nominee since Gerald Ford in 1976 to refuse to publish his returns.

Critics suspect they will show the businessman is not as rich as he has claimed. Ms Clinton herself suggest that there is a possibility that the GOP nominee is not paying taxes at all.



"Here's a pretty incredible fact: There is a non-zero chance that Donald Trump isn't paying *any* taxes," she tweeted. The graphic included in the tweet added, "We don't know for sure because he won't release his tax returns."

According to public records, Mr Trump did not pay any income taxes in 1978, 1979, and 1984. The New Jersey gambling commission records showed that he paid minimal – if any – taxes in 1991 and 1993, according to the New York Times.