TRUMP BUSINESS/TRUMP TAXES: “Donald Trump reported more than $1 billion in real estate losses on his tax returns from 1985 to 1994, The New York Times revealed this week. Those losses allowed him to avoid paying any income tax for eight of the 10 years that were reviewed. The Times investigation offered a detailed portrait of Mr. Trump’s financial failures over a decade. It also showed the extent of the special treatment the tax code allows for real estate investments. A portion of Mr. Trump’s losses were related to depreciation, a tax strategy that he, and others in commercial real estate, can use to write down the cost of their buildings over a number of years. Depreciation is just the start for real estate moguls. Favorable treatment for commercial real estate occurs at multiple levels, including income and property taxes as well as more complicated structures that allow savvy families to pass real estate worth hundreds of millions to heirs tax-free. There are myriad benefits, all legal, created specifically for commercial real estate.”
–Paul Sullivan, “How Loopholes Help Trump and Other Real Estate Moguls Avoid Taxes,” The New York Times online, May 10, 2019