Post by Christine on Oct 3, 2018 19:51:49 GMT -5
I haven't read the whole thing yet. So far, some of it - e.g.,"shell" entities, the shifting of money to the baby Trumps - is likely not illegal, insofar as loopholes being what they are/were. Clearly it's all more evidence that Trump wasn't a self-made billionaire.
I don't see the buying of the casino chips as illegal, either, unless there is some specific related party rule in regard to casino chips. The purchase by Fred would have been revenue to the casino, and likely a nondeductible gambling loss to Fred.
The buying/selling of property between related parties at less than arm's length should have prevented Fred from taking a loss on those properties, but which loss the NYT article says he "appears" to have taken. Side note, I don't know if the related party loss rules were the same back then.
There seems to be an underlying insinuation by the NYT that the ONLY way to shift wealth to heirs is via gifts or through an estate, which is kinda naive, if that's what they're getting at. Wealthy parents can pay their heirs salaries, take them on as officers, give them profits interests in partnerships and LLCs, etc. I'm not entirely sure of the MYT's logic at times and I'll probably try to re-read once I'm done.
All that said, undervaluing assets on gift tax returns is shady AF, especially to the extent the NYT article claims. Purposeful undervaluation is tax evasion. But, that said, one of the docs linked from the article showed a page of Fred Trump Jr.'s estate tax return, with a property listed at 290 million, which the IRS reviewed and revalued to... 300 million. So the IRS reviewed it and essentially accepted the valuation. Which is not to say that the property wasn't undervalued. (ETA: I kinda disagree with rob that the IRS is all that effective. This could be an example of how they aren't. And I've got a few of my own. I do agree with rob that the IRS has likely taken a shot at most of this stuff.)
I don't see the buying of the casino chips as illegal, either, unless there is some specific related party rule in regard to casino chips. The purchase by Fred would have been revenue to the casino, and likely a nondeductible gambling loss to Fred.
The buying/selling of property between related parties at less than arm's length should have prevented Fred from taking a loss on those properties, but which loss the NYT article says he "appears" to have taken. Side note, I don't know if the related party loss rules were the same back then.
There seems to be an underlying insinuation by the NYT that the ONLY way to shift wealth to heirs is via gifts or through an estate, which is kinda naive, if that's what they're getting at. Wealthy parents can pay their heirs salaries, take them on as officers, give them profits interests in partnerships and LLCs, etc. I'm not entirely sure of the MYT's logic at times and I'll probably try to re-read once I'm done.
All that said, undervaluing assets on gift tax returns is shady AF, especially to the extent the NYT article claims. Purposeful undervaluation is tax evasion. But, that said, one of the docs linked from the article showed a page of Fred Trump Jr.'s estate tax return, with a property listed at 290 million, which the IRS reviewed and revalued to... 300 million. So the IRS reviewed it and essentially accepted the valuation. Which is not to say that the property wasn't undervalued. (ETA: I kinda disagree with rob that the IRS is all that effective. This could be an example of how they aren't. And I've got a few of my own. I do agree with rob that the IRS has likely taken a shot at most of this stuff.)