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In Trump Donations, Big Tax Write-Offs and Claims That Don't Always Add Up
Link to tweet
Tweet text:Susanne Craig
@susannecraig
New Tax Story: Donald Trump’s taxes show he didn't reach for his wallet for most of his charitable giving. The bulk of it came from donating land. His taxes also cast doubt on a number of charitable commitments he has boasted about.
Donald J. Trump in 2006 with George E. Pataki, then governor of New York. A donation on land he was abandoning helped reduce his tax bill.
In Trump Donations, Big Tax Write-Offs and Claims That Don’t Always Add Up
Hidden financial records cast doubt on a number of his charitable commitments and show that most of his giving came from land deals that offset his income.
nytimes.com
2:43 PM · Oct 23, 2020
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/23/us/trump-taxes-philanthropy.html
In President Trump’s telling, he is a committed philanthropist with strong ties to many charities. “If you don’t give back, you’re never ever going to be fulfilled in life,” he wrote in “Trump 101: The Way to Success,” published at the height of his “Apprentice” fame.
And according to his tax records, he has given back at least $130 million since 2005, his second year as a reality TV star.
But the long-hidden tax records, obtained by The New York Times, show that Mr. Trump did not have to reach into his wallet for most of that giving. The vast bulk of his charitable tax deductions, $119.3 million worth, came from simply agreeing not to develop land — in several cases, after he had shelved development plans.
Three of the agreements involved what are known as conservation easements — a maneuver, popular among wealthy Americans, that typically allows a landowner to keep a property’s title and receive a tax deduction equal to its appraised value. In the fourth land deal, Mr. Trump donated property for a state park.
The New York attorney general is investigating whether the appraisals on two of Mr. Trump’s easement donations were improperly inflated to win larger tax breaks, according to court filings.
*snip*
@susannecraig
New Tax Story: Donald Trump’s taxes show he didn't reach for his wallet for most of his charitable giving. The bulk of it came from donating land. His taxes also cast doubt on a number of charitable commitments he has boasted about.
Donald J. Trump in 2006 with George E. Pataki, then governor of New York. A donation on land he was abandoning helped reduce his tax bill.
In Trump Donations, Big Tax Write-Offs and Claims That Don’t Always Add Up
Hidden financial records cast doubt on a number of his charitable commitments and show that most of his giving came from land deals that offset his income.
nytimes.com
2:43 PM · Oct 23, 2020
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/23/us/trump-taxes-philanthropy.html
In President Trump’s telling, he is a committed philanthropist with strong ties to many charities. “If you don’t give back, you’re never ever going to be fulfilled in life,” he wrote in “Trump 101: The Way to Success,” published at the height of his “Apprentice” fame.
And according to his tax records, he has given back at least $130 million since 2005, his second year as a reality TV star.
But the long-hidden tax records, obtained by The New York Times, show that Mr. Trump did not have to reach into his wallet for most of that giving. The vast bulk of his charitable tax deductions, $119.3 million worth, came from simply agreeing not to develop land — in several cases, after he had shelved development plans.
Three of the agreements involved what are known as conservation easements — a maneuver, popular among wealthy Americans, that typically allows a landowner to keep a property’s title and receive a tax deduction equal to its appraised value. In the fourth land deal, Mr. Trump donated property for a state park.
The New York attorney general is investigating whether the appraisals on two of Mr. Trump’s easement donations were improperly inflated to win larger tax breaks, according to court filings.
*snip*
