Breaking: ABC News Fingers Donald Trump in a Massive Tax Evasion Scandal

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The American commercial broadcaster, American Broadcasting Company (ABC) has revealed in a news article how the presumptive nominee of the Grand Old Party, Donald Trump has deliberately failed to fulfil his tax obligations to the United States.

Trump was a business magnate before entering into politics. He has made huge investments in recreation, real estate, sports and entertainment. Trump’s business ventures and investments are managed by the Trump Organization. As of May 2016, Trump has a net worth of $4.5 billion.

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In a news article, titled The Only Time Donald Trump Undersells: Tax Time, the ABC chronicled how the business magnate has duped the country he wants to lead, by blatantly undervaluing his properties in order to cut his tax down.

The first property mentioned in the article is the Trump National Golf Club, in the small town of Ossining in Westchester County, New York. The golf club has winding streams, stone bridges, a 101-foot waterfall and an expansive clubhouse. It is, indeed, a reflection of a true luxurious lifestyle. It is said Trump wrote on a candidate disclosure form, that the sprawling 147-acre private club bearing his name is worth more than $50 million.

But, according to the ABC, when it came to valuing the property for tax purposes, Trump’s lawyers argued that the property is worth only $1.35 million. The proposed valuation has confused town officials of Ossining. Officials said the new figure would cut Trump’s tax burden by 90 percent, dumping that burden on poor residents.

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ABC also revealed that in 1986, when Trump purchased one of the most expensive luxury yachts in the world from the Sultan of Brunei, “The Princess,” he used a lease-back arrangement involving an out-of-state company to avoid having to pay $1.75 million in sales tax to the state of New Jersey for the purchase of the yacht.

In the same year, it is said Trump was one of a number of celebrities identified in a New York state investigation into a sales tax dodge by the Bulgari jewelry store on Fifth Avenue. Store officials had been accused of selling expensive items to celebrity customers and then sending an empty box to an out-of-state address so the customers would not have to pay the New York sales tax. News reports from the time said Trump bought a $65,000 item. A former state prosecutor involved in the matter, said Trump and others helped the state build a case against the store, which they considered the more serious violator.

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Again, the news media revealed that when Trump struck a deal with New York City to build the Grand Hyatt Hotel, it was required that his partnership team return a portion of the hotel profits to the city. But a 1989 audit found that his ownership team “understated its net profit” by more than $5 million, and deprived the city of nearly $3 million in unreported proceeds. The city auditor who reviewed the Grand Hyatt financial books, Karen Burstein, said Trump approved the decision to use different accounting rules to determine the money owed to the city.

“He [Trump] cheated the city of a substantial amount of money. This wasn’t just a good business deal. This wasn’t just business thinking. This was manipulation … It was an example of extraordinary flim-flammery,” Burstein told ABC News in an interview.

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For town officials in Ossining, they have said they plan to fight Trump’s claim that the private golf club is worth only $1.35 million. They revealed that Trump bought the property for $8 million in a foreclosure sale. He then spent $45 million to build the 18-hole course and 75,000-square-foot clubhouse. Trump also received permits to build six hotel suites on the property, with no increase in his tax assessment.

When ABC contacted the Trump Organization for an analysis of the tax decisions implicating the organization, officials declined to provide any information. The executive vice president and general counsel of the Trump Organization, Alan Garten, only said: “Not only do virtually all of the items go back between 30 to 40 years, but they all appear to be based upon false information.”


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59 COMMENTS

  1. Honestly? Shrewd tax strategies from 30 or 40 years ago? Dredging up ancient history? If this was so egregious, why didn’t the IRS sue or fine him? Why didn’t the municipalities sue him? It’s easy to make claims about property assessments but some people are smarter than others in getting properties valued for tax purposes. Sounds like nothing illegal here. Just smart business and we want Trump to use this thinking to champion AMERICAN rights especially in foreign trade! VOTE TRUMP for SMART BUSINESS SAVVY that benefits America.

    • So it is all right with you that this lying draft dodging son of a bitch should run this country. Move to Mexico you ignorant ass hole.

      • He should not even have the “LUXARY” of Mexico! Send his lying, deceitful, hate spreading, riot insighting ass to Afghanistan or Iraq, or even Syria, or anyplace that is being bombed so he can be blown to HELL!

        • For over 2 decades you morons have been saying that, yet not once has anything ever come of it. Know why? Because you’re full of crap.

        • I knew before I read the reply to this article that Trump supporters would use Trumps words that he is just a smart business man an nothing illegal was done. Well, nmatter how far back you go into Trump’s past, you seem to find a TRAIL leading you down another path of Trump unethical business practices. Just because the city has been willing to take their loss rather thsn go after Trump, does not mean they should keep quirt about it so this country can be duped.Using private undisclosed ways to avoid paying the correct taxes owed is illegal. Falsely stating the value of your property to the IRS is illegal. Refusing to pay contractural obligations because you lie about your profits is illegal. Giving the IRS one valuation of a property and the election oversight committee another is not legal.

          • Income tax is illegal so what’s your point? The 16th amendment was never ratified in the first place! The IRS should be abolished anyway, it is not legal either!

        • Are you so simple that you believe every lie the Republican say concerning Hillary for the past 25 years? Oddly, not one thing they say has been proven.

        • You say lies,you need to read, the not understanding the action they take and difficult time is not a lie,but not to pay taxes is robbery to our country??

        • The GOP is looking more like Hitler’s Germany every day. They hate Women, Gays, Blacks, Latinos, The Elderly, Science, Education, WHO DO THEY LOVE?????? The Sucking Billionaires they SUCKLE! SO BLOODY PRESIDENTIAL…….. Lets talk GOP TRAILER TRASH!

      • I just love when white wingers spew how worried they are about American lives and how concerned about Americans they are….and then they see working class Americans going into debt or trying to run a small business and they find out that their Republican candidate, a born wealthy chicken hawk that has never dirtied his hands once from a hard day of work, is ripping off small business owners and the American people by not paying his taxes and he takes advantage our court system, which you and I pay for….given the chance to stand behind those working class Americans and what do they do….Play willfully ignorant, make childhood excuses and protect some billionaire all because he chose their party to run for president, even though he has been a life time Democratic supporter…These are some really smart people with NO AMERICAN LOYALTY WHATSOEVER!

    • I don’t quite see, MZ, how cheating on his taxes, lying about his net worth, screwing vets out of money, or his other lies “benefits America” or anyone other than Trump.

    • YOU ARE THE MOST IGNORANT IDIOT THAT I HAVE EVER SEEN WRITE ANYTHING! You don’t even deserve the privledge of being in America! Have you no conceince? SHAME ON YOU!!

    • You’re a scumbag just like that tiny-fingered cheeto-faced orangutan. Drumpf is totally unqualified to be president and is nothing but a liar, con-man, cheater, tax dodger, racist, and ignorant bigoted fascist. If he’s such a good businessman, then why did he need to rip off all those people who were conned into Trump University? Fact is, he’s nothing but a shyster and con man. And don’t you even dare call yourself American because you’re nothing but a douchebag, just like Drumpf.

    • Some of us patriots still find it important to distinguish between what is legal and what is moral, and right. While stockholders and corporations and capitalism needs to make their profit, I find Apple and Trump and others who evade taxes harmful to our country as a whole, as they are greedy. Greed is good, the movie said–and it was meant to remind people that greed is NOT good. Profit is fine, but greed is a sin in the moral world, a way to hurt other people, and when you examine it closely it is precisely a way that harms our country (though appearaces are smudged to make it look good. “Capitalism” is what our country is based on–and that is true. Tax evasion by legal but immoral means is not what our country is based on. I pay my taxes both morally and legally, and while the party that favors greed makes rules legalizing it, and I am a small voice–I still think it immoral.

      • Personally I don’t like either candidate, but I must ask, why is it that no one on the left is at all concerned about the lack of candor and audit of the Clinton Foundation? Which would definitely reflect back on Hillary. There are numerous questions circling the running and accounting that organization but no one seems to care. From where I sit our choices this election are horrific. You all have described the downside of Trump, but the lying, incompetence, and ieffectiveness of Hillary have been overlooked by so many in power because they have been politically connected to either her or Bill. Both candidates are terrible and it is a terrible reflection on our country.

    • MZ- Smart business? Are you listening to ALL of his problems? His “college,” his meats, his wines, his just about everything is all egregious. We won’t even talk about his lawsuits pending on sexual assault on 2 women and 1 adult who was underage. He hates everything that isn’t of him, and he doesn’t want to respect the constitution, he wants to rewrite it. You dont have to have a degree to see what he is, why are you so blind? His bling is only in his fillings MZ, as he was put on a budget by the bank, a PERSONAL one because he manically spends. I guess we have to get used to the idea that people of this country who are angry think that going with an angry destructive candidate will fix things. LOL!

    • There are people much smarter than Trump who will audit trade agreements. Tax fraud, which can easily be proven”or disproven can send Trump to prison if this is true. He is trying to gain access to our trillion dollar account. Do you really think he would give this country any money he makes through his creative money deals?

    • Trumps idea of “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN” is to bend the rules so that this tax dodging and other nefarious activities is acceptable for people like Donald. The “MAKE AMERICA GREAT” doesn’t include most Americans. It’s all about him. Making it great for him, regardless of the consequences to everyone else.

    • The IRS doesn’t investigate property taxes, that is a state and local matter. I managed a very effective and respected state tax fraud investigation unit and we left property tax investigations to counties and cities. That said you note Trumps yacht is documented in Nassau? That is to avoid sales/use taxes and boat registration fees. It is probably in a corporate holding company but I would give my left testicle to be given carte blanche to investigate this dirt bag.

  2. Assessed valuation need not be the same as the purchased price. Once the purchase has been made, the taxes are based on that assessed valuation. it can creep up over the years but improvements made to the property are capitalized and constitute value added upon sale. The new owner, if any, then are assessed on a higher valuation. Donald Trump, as can you or I, take advantage of tax rules to minimize his taxes. That is the intelligent thing to do. I think it was Justice Learned Hand who wrote that people could rearrange their affairs to pay the minimum taxes. So, Ed, you petulant, ignorant blow-hard, when Donald Trump is elected YOUR president as well as mine, you can expect your own economy to do better. Then what will you say?

    • Jay have you considered that this is why Trump is being audited and makes the claim that he is audited year after year. You will never know whether he paid penalties or has been sued due to falsifying information on his tax forms because you will never see them. You will never know who gave his foundation funds and nor will you ever know who Trump has funded because he is not going to show his previous or current tax returns. Trump should have the best of the best CPAs doing his taxes so that he is not flagged so often. If he is so proud of how he does business then why not show some of his previous tax returns???

      • Because he is a lying manipulative fraud. Ask Warren Buffet and Mark Cuban. Honest investors with no need to form plagiarized universities to totally rip off unsuspecting honest individuals, mainly retirees. Trump is pond scum and should be jailed. Believe me there are IRS agents who can be bribed to look the other way.

    • Jay L. Stern.. that easy to answer. Because he is never going to be president.. Hell him might not even make it out of Cleveland.. So there won’t be anything to say.. you on the other hand might need to start practice saying “Madam President”

    • Jay, you are fairly ignorant. As a former manager of a tax fraud investigation unit it took me about three seconds to conclude Trump is a tax evader, crook and felon. Property valuation is rarely, if ever, lower than purchase/investment price. 80-90% of the perps my unit investigated were GOP scum like Trump. Other rich folks try the same tactic on property tax such as Bill Gates, who in my experience was an honest businessman. He tried to value his home on Lake Washington at less than investment price. King County told him to forget it. To Gates credit he accepted the higher assessment without even a Trump-like whine. I would love to spend the rest of my career putting scum like Trump in prison while seizing their ill-gotten gains.

  3. I don’t care who you are, everyone tries to lower their taxes. I do not see anything wrong as long as it is legal. If this were true, the dumb asses are the IRS people. Not trump

    • Actually both would be responsible. This is why he files so many bankruptcies. It protects you from foreclosure and huge tax fines and you can negotiate much lower penalties. The IRS is broke, understaffed and has outdated computer systems. They need an overall sales tax system so rich people on down to lowest earners pay a fair share. No citizen should need help to file overly complicated returns. Or as Chump likes to say “the system is rigged”! For people like him and he isnt going to change it. Trust me. Money whores never do.

      • People who calls others names like Trump does are usually guilty of what they call others.
        So stupid Republicans wanted to believe what Trump was shooting his mouth off about Hillary. So our Trey Gowdy, Paul Ryan and Jason Chaffetz jumped on the Trump train trying to convince the public of wrong doing. When in fact Trump had it wrong he is ignorant, arrogant, cheat, liar, BULLY and rigged the system to his liking to avoid paying his fair share of taxes.
        Move over Bernie Maddof, Trump maybe your cellmate.

    • The IRS does not take the lead in investigating property tax fraud, it is a local matter. You are an ignorant putz calling IRS people “dumb asses.” They are, in my direct experience, dedicated and professional public servants doing a tough job well while corrupt GOP politicians try and get their campaign donor billionaires off the hook for paying their fair share.

  4. Let’s reason he’s a good crook cheating on his taxes s I he will make a good come on who needs to spend 190,000 on anal bleaching for his image ok go ahead vote for this crook that wants Korea to bomb Japan tax evasion is not creative thinking he is a crook

  5. Where has your investigative journalists been the last eight long and painful years? You saw nothing worthy of investigating under the most corrupt administration in American history? Shameful!

    • President Obama, if he were white, would be hailed as one of the best presidents. Being born black is his only mistake. And right wing republicans know it and don’t like it. Their response to his presidency is immature and childish. Americans should be color blind by now! My mother always told me it’s what’s on the inside of a person that’s important, not the outside. So fellow Americans, can we please start acting like the People we were meant to be? A melting pot of differences that made us respectable responsible citizens. And always remember, only Native American Indians are the only real Americans by blood. The rest of us are immigrants or the offspring of immigrants.

      • What a bunch of crap. The American people voted for him two times. He has fueled the fires of racial divisions in our country, and brought chaos in this country. Then when people speak out
        against the worst president we have had, they are racist. Anyone who believes this is an idiot. Yes there are educated idiots.

  6. It amazes me that anyone thinks Chumpo wants to win this thing. He is a control freak among many other things and will never give up running his “empire”. He is scamming the American people and making a farce of our governing system. If in a lapse of sanity, we elect this fool, he will never govern. And gawd help us because the revolutionaries are waiting in the wings.

  7. Trump is a disaster. The reason he refuses to release his tax returns is because his ego doesn’t want the world to know that he is not nearly worth as much as he boasts about, that he pay very little or no tax, much of it being questionable accounting practices and finally he gave little or nothing to charitable organizations and the release of his taxes would again showed he lied.

    Hillary is very experienced, has proven ability to handle the job and will be elected President even if I may not like her much. That said, nothing would come close total disaster as letting Trump.

  8. All of his other horiffic attitudes and any scandals aside, I think it is hilarious, in a very sad way,that anyone thinks he will help our economy when his go-to move for businesses is to file bankruptcy. That’s worked out great for other countries that have filed bankruptcy, right? Gaming a system for profit is vastly different from knowing how to manage a country.

    And he’s all about people that aren’t rich. Gosh look at how much he’s shown he cares before running for president. Oh the employees he has on strike and others he hasn’t paid, love him. That’s all sarcasm folks.

    BTW, I want his supporters to build a fence around their homes and inform their neighbors they are paying for it. While you are at it, tell them their family is bunch of lying, thieving rapists. Let me know how that works out for you.

    If you consider yourself to be someone that cares about other races but will hold your nose and vote for him because you don’t like Clinton, you are lying to yourself about what kind of person you are. You are the worst than open bigots that vote for him.

  9. Wow bizarre the support for Trump. I understand why though as he makes some things sound like common sense. But in the end don’t forget he kinda signed up for this election as a joke and now look what happened…propaganda!

    Hilary’s speech was actually good about his companies buying export products etc it’s true! Not that I care for Hilary much either but what’s the choice when the polls are fixed.

    God bless America but if trump gets in your in serious trouble

  10. I am not American. Nevertheless, I am horrified at the prospect of Trump winning the elections,just as the entire world is. If he does, it will be because of the deliberately obtuse, ignorant,stupid,low IQ people who refuse to accept that Trump will be a disaster for them as well as their country.They believe Trump will be their savior. Oh! really? Trump needs to be saved from himself first. He needs to grow up first. To consciously vote for a nincompoop, who is so very unqualified for the post of a kindergarten class monitor, much less a President, well, what does it say about these voters? God Help America!

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