TFG is using Schedule Cs for "outside" business that have no revenue but only expenses. TFG was sued on this before and lost.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/taxes/how-trump-brazenly-took-tax-losses-he-knew-were-fraudulent/ar-AA15JZ0N?ocid=msedgntp&cvid=0e0408ca42604dd1958cd16cbcb873ae
Donald Trump knowingly committed dozens of brazen tax frauds during the six years when he ran for office and was President, my analysis of the Congressional report on his tax returns and other documents shows. This explains why he fought all the way to the Supreme Court in a failed effort to keep his tax information secret.
One technique he used at least 26 times between 2015 and 2020 was as simple as it was flagrant. Trump filed sole proprietor reports, known as Schedule C, that showed huge business expenses despite having zero revenue. That created losses which Trump used to offset his income from work and investments, thus lowering his income taxes. Additional Schedule Cs had expenses exactly equal to revenues while only a few showed profits.
Trump knew this was unlawful because he lost two trials over his 1984 income taxes in which he did the exact same thing, a story I broke in June 2016. Both judges, in scathing opinions, ruled that Trump committed civil tax fraud.
That Trump persisted in using the same fraudulent technique in six years of recent tax returns is powerful evidence of mens rea or criminal intent. This device is not Trump’s most lucrative tax cheating technique, but it is the easiest for jurors to understand should Trump be indicted on tax charges......
This takes us back to 1984, by far Trump’s most lucrative year up to that point. Trump Tower opened at the end of 1983, and his first Atlantic City casino opened in the Spring of 1984. Rivers of greenbacks flowed into Trump’s accounts.
State and city auditors spotted a Schedule C consulting business that showed no fees or other revenue but more than $600,000 in costs. State and city auditors disallowed the losses. Trump appealed. I couldn’t find a record of the IRS taking any action.
In scathing decisions following administrative trials, judges for New York State and City ruled that Trump was not entitled to use losses from this supposed consulting business to offset his other income.
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