What does a TRUMP presidency look like?

[Tamas]

Donald J. Trump
@realDonaldTrump
33 minutes ago

The Failing New York Times did something I have never seen done before. They used the concept of "time value of money" in doing a very old, boring and often told hit piece on me. Added up, this means that 97% of their stories on me are bad. Never recovered from bad election call!

so incredibly petty and shallow.

[Habbaku]

I like how he doesn't actually refute the article.

[Syt]

I personally like the juxtaposition of "something I have never seen done before" and "old, boring and often told hit piece".

[The Minsky Moment]

He's an idiot on so many different levels.  it's not the time value of money.  Time value of money is about estimating the present value of a future income stream.  The NYT article was inflation adjusting dollars in the past.

[The Minsky Moment]

The Times piece is really an impressive feat of reporting. I'm really curious about who provided them with some of the docs.

[Syt]

The question, though, is: what will it change? Republicans won't care.

[crazy canuck]

The Times piece is really an impressive feat of reporting. I'm really curious about who provided them with some of the docs.

Apparently there is a Trump relative who passed away and left a whole basement full of documents behind.  Not sure how the reporters got access to that though.

[FunkMonk]

He's an idiot on so many different levels.  it's not the time value of money.  Time value of money is about estimating the present value of a future income stream.  The NYT article was inflation adjusting dollars in the past.

Did he really confuse these two completely different concepts? 

[Barrister]

The question, though, is: what will it change? Republicans won't care.

It's an article I think only a lawyer could love.  I find it fascinating.

But no - Republicans won't care.  They don't like paying taxes either, so why would they begrudge DJT for trying to get cheat his taxes?

[HVC]

The GOP credo: Rule of Law, unless it's a law I don't like, then screw it"

[The Minsky Moment]

What is interesting is how thoroughly it demolishes the mythology of Trump's real estate acumen.  Fred Trump really did build up a billion dollar real estate empire in the outer boroughs. Donald's real estate career is basically a multi-decade history of draining the assets of that empire to cover serial losses he incurred on ill-advised prestige projects.  This has been credibly argued before but the Times piece provides hard numbers to back that account.

[crazy canuck]

I wonder if someone is going to go back to his bankruptcy filings to see if there is a case to be made that he fraudulently misrepresented his assets in those proceedings.

[garbon]

I wonder if someone is going to go back to his bankruptcy filings to see if there is a case to be made that he fraudulently misrepresented his assets in those proceedings.

I'd heard that part of this reporting was to make it so if say New York wanted to come after him for owed back taxes they could (not criminal as past statute of limitations) but also suggests yet another angle that if he was doing some not legit stuff then, he probably continued to do so.

[jimmy olsen]

That's a lot of money

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/politics/if-times-right-trumps-could-face-400m-state-tax-bill?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=socialflow

President Donald Trump and his siblings could owe New York state more than $400 million in unpaid taxes, interest and penalties based on the New York Times report that their parents handed down more than $1 billion worth of real estate and cash.

Based on the figures provided in the Times article, the Trumps could be on the hook for $210 million in unpaid gift or estate taxes and a similar amount in unpaid interest and penalties, according to Fred Slater, a CPA who has advised real estate professionals for more than 40 years. Janis Cowhey, a trust and estates partner and leader of the modern family group at accounting firm Marcum, agreed that Slater's estimate is sensible.

Slater added that President Trump could be liable for a larger share than his sisters and brother because as trustee he signed the tax returns for the estates. The state Department of Taxation and Finance says it is "vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation."

"The state is nasty about this kind of stuff," said Slater, who is familiar with the techniques allegedly used by the Trumps to minimize their tax bills.

But it is possible the state would accept less than $400 million in order to avoid a prolonged battle. Former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, for example, settled a fraud suit with Trump University for $25 million after originally seeking a $40 million payout.

Slater based his estimate on the fact that New York charged a 21% tax on large gifts and estates when developer Fred Trump bequeathed his business to his children. The tax rate has since been reduced to 16%.

Many of the Trump family's tax-avoidance strategies were aggressive though probably legal, Slater said. But he added that the family might be on less solid ground if the Times' description of the methods used to increase operating costs to justify rent increases on regulated apartments proves accurate. Plus, the low valuations ascribed to many of Fred Trump's properties when they were passed to his heirs could prove problematic as well.

"Trustees need to be conservative people by nature because they are potentially taking on a lot of liability," said Slater, who added that sorting out the Trump matter could take more than a decade.

An attorney for President Trump has denied any wrongdoing. Robert Trump, the president's brother, said all appropriate gift and estate tax returns were filed and required taxes paid.

One possible reason the government didn't look more closely at how the estate was handed down is because the process involved tucking properties into limited-liability companies and other legal entities that IRS officials didn't typically scrutinize until the early 2000s.

"They didn't see the money flowing out of these things, and auditors weren't awarded for understanding them," Slater said. "They basically never touched them."

[Tamas]

WTF is "crainsnewyork".

If we blame our plight at people forming opinions on ill-advised sources, maybe we shouldn't do it that much ourselves?