THIS is how trump managed to show massive losses

[Roland99]

Link to tweet

I went to Donald J Trump State Park an hour north of NYC. Nobody knows it's there because it isn't a real park. It's barren land Trump bought for $2.75 M hoping to build a golf course. When it failed, he donated it to NY State—claiming it was worth $100 M—for a huge tax writeoff.

Buy up some property, inflate its worth and dump it. Or depress its worth on a tax form

[madaboutharry]

1. Only someone with a criminal mind thinks up these schemes.

And he taught this world view to his kids.

[rurallib]

21. Well, I believe he learned it from his daddy

so it is a family tradition!

[rainin]

2. OMG! This is so brazen! Please let us see justice in this lifetime

[marybourg]

3. Yup. That's how it's done. Just like your grifter neighbor who

donated his 17 year old Saab to his church and deducted $8000 from his federal income tax as a charitable deduction. That was so abused that now you have to show proof of what it sold for. But real estate, well, there’s always a corrupt appraiser. There are many other ways of taking a tax loss that only people with complex financial dealings can avail themselves of.

[dameatball]

4. I keep wondering what the IRS has been doing the past 20 years, regarding Trump. Not just this

instance certainly. How does claiming a $100 million dollar loss on a $2.75 million property not become a glaring red flag to auditors?

There is a vacant lot next to me. Hmmmmm

[marybourg]

7. He gets a crooked appraiser to certify

that the property increased in value to $100 million since he bought it for $2.75. We all know of incidents of real property increasing greatly. Hell, I've had that happen to me. That's how I got to retire!

So then he donates it based on the new, higher value, and deducts it as a charitable deduction. It's not that easy to disprove. That's why the publicans defunded the IRS. In their own interest. And then they caused whatever resources are left to be focused on the tax credits the poor take.

[dameatball]

8. Yes, good synopsis. Congrats on the retirement! I get the mechanics of the deal, just wondering how

such a high profile person got away with it for so long.

[Dark n Stormy Knight]

38. I've been wondering the same thing.

I guess it's the age old white-collar-crime-goes-unpunished story.

[dameatball]

39. Yes. Maybe the answer is just that simple.

[MyOwnPeace]

20. My investment lawyers, "Dewey, Cheatam, and Howe*"......

want to know if you're interested in a partner for that "vacant lot..."


*Yeah, they used to work for "Click and Clack"

[dameatball]

24. Car talk guys I think. Used to listen to them in the garage. Well, I was in the garage not them!

[MyOwnPeace]

26. Yep, that's them!

Always good for a smile and laugh - especially when you needed one!

[Klaralven]

34. Ray and Tom Magliozzi, MIT 1999 Commencement Address

[MyOwnPeace]

40. O-M-G!!!!!!!!!

Thank you - thank you - thank you!!!!!

I've only started it and I'm saving the rest until AFTER the debate. It will either cheer me up, lower my blood pressure, or give me a great wrap-up for a great evening (which I'm expecting after Joe kicks BunkerBoy into Lake Erie!!!).

Great stuff!

[Baitball Blogger]

5. This one is sheer fraud./

[central scrutinizer]

6. Two choices

1. He’s a stupid inept businessman who really did piss away millions

2. He’s guilty of tax fraud by grossly inflating his losses to lower his taxable income

(Probably both)

[ProfessorGAC]

9. Maybe Both, But,...

...I think far more #1.
He leveraged & leveraged to cover the leverage, then leveraged to cover the leverage that was covering the leverage.
He ran out of suckers who would lend him money, so off to Germany, China & Russia.
It's coming home to roost.

[chriscan64]

16. Sounds right.

He is a one man ponzi scheme, only the mark is himself in the future.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

10. He also plays it both ways as it suits him.

Didn't he do that, grossly underestimate the value of holdings, to cheat his niece Mary and her brother Frederick III out of their fair share of inheritance?

[DeminPennswoods]

13. Yes

The family said Fred Sr's businesses were worth 30M when it was closer to 1B.

[wnylib]

11. Not saying this is legal because I really

don't know, but this is how I think Trumh would justify, in his own mind at least, claiming a $100 million deduction on the property. If it was developed into the golf course as planned, it would have been a 100 million dollar business. But, instead, he donated it "out of the goodness of his heart" dontcha know. So his generous donation cost him a fortune, which loss he then deducts on his taxes, based on what it could have been.

[Roland99]

12. In that case, I'm gonna write off $10 million for a painting

Right now, it’s an empty canvas with some brushes and paint lying about on the table next to it but it has potential!

[DeminPennswoods]

14. For you, that will stand out like a sore thumb,

but for people with M's of $s in income and investments, it wouldn't.

[MyOwnPeace]

22. But if he was a "willing donor" to BunkerBoy...........

I'd bet it would be worth millions hanging in the caddy's bathroom at Mar-A-Lago!

[wnylib]

32. LOL.

And I've got a few reams of paper that are a future best selling book.

[Roland99]

35. There ya go!

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

15. He would have thought it was worth $100 million

once developed, but don't pretty much all of his golf courses lose money? I'm also under the impression that most of them simply aren't very good courses. I've never golfed, so I haven't much of an idea about what makes a good golf course.

[wnylib]

33. I don't golf either so I wouldn't know.

But if they're like his other business ventures, I'd bet they're not much good.

[mercuryblues]

17. I read a story a few years back

He devalues his properties to avoid paying property taxes. When he needs a loan and wants to use the property as collateral the value magically rises.

[The Magistrate]

19. And That, My Friend, Is Criminal Fraud

[mercuryblues]

30. Why yes, yes it is.

[Illumination]

18. That's like house flipping without the work...

[MyOwnPeace]

23. Yep!!!! That's the scam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and he's been busted - and the RepubliCons are complicit in it!

[Thunderbeast]

25. Kind of like donating a 1988 Chevy Citation to charity

and claiming a $100,000 tax deduction because...who knows...might be worth something someday.

You don't KNOW that it won't happen.

[MyOwnPeace]

27. Hey Thunderbeast!

I've got one that I'm willing to let go for only $50,000 - and I'll throw in a plaid sports coat with it!

[Thunderbeast]

28. I like the look!

[MyOwnPeace]

31. The "Best of the Best!"

(not cars, but "sales&quot

[Roland99]

29. Ha! I used to have one. For about 6 months

[Patterson]

36. Shouldn't he owe capital gains on the $100,000,000?

[librechik]

37. laundering money for anyone who's got dirty business.

it's better if you lose it.