WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump could face an IRS bill in excess of $100 million after a government audit indicates he double-dipped into tax losses tied to a Chicago skyscraper, according to a report from The New York Times and ProPublica that was based on a year-long audit and public filings.
The report’s findings could put renewed focus on Trump’s business career as the presumptive Republican nominee tries to win back the White House after losing in 2020.
Trump used his prestige as a real estate developer and television star to build a political movement, but he refused to release his tax returns, as previous presidential candidates have done. The tax returns that the public is aware of came from previous Times reporting and a public release of records by Democrats on the House Ways and Means Committee in 2022.
Trump’s presidential campaign provided a statement on behalf of son Eric Trump saying the IRS probe “was resolved years ago, only to be brought back to life when my father ran for office. We are confident in our position.”
Tax records cited in the report indicate that Trump twice deducted losses on the Trump International Hotel and Tower, which opened in 2009 near the banks of the Chicago River, which runs through the center of that city.
The report said Trump initially reported losses of $658 million in his 2008 filings under the premise that the property met the IRS definition of “worthless” because condo sales were disappointing and retail space sat empty. amid a deep recession in the USA.
But in 2010, according to the published report, Trump transferred ownership of the property to a different holding company that he also controlled, using the move to save money on taxes, reporting an additional $168 million in losses over the next decade on the same property. .
The report had no update on the status of the IRS probe as of December 2022, but said Trump could owe more than $100 million, including fines, if he lost the audit battle.
Meanwhile, Trump is appealing a New York judge’s February ruling following a civil trial that said Trump, his company and top executives lied about their wealth on financial statements, misleading bankers and insurers who did business with him. In early April, Trump issued a $175 million bond, halting collection of the more than $454 million he owed at trial and preventing the state from seizing his assets to satisfy the debt while he appealed.
Democratic President Joe Biden has said Trump largely owes his fortune to an inheritance from his father rather than his own financial acumen. Biden has gone after Trump for not wanting to pay taxes, while his administration has increased funding for the IRS in order to increase audits of the ultra-wealthy and improve compliance with the federal tax code.
The Trump campaign opposes the additional funding that Biden and Democrats have provided to the IRS. At campaign rallies, Trump said the United States would be destroyed as a country unless his 2017 tax cuts, which are largely set to expire after 2025, were extended.
