WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump may be facing an IRS bill for more than $100 million after a government audit found he double-dipped on tax losses tied to a Chicago skyscraper, according to a report by The New York Times and ProPublica that built on a years-long audit and public records.
The report’s findings could put a renewed focus on Trump’s business career as the presumptive Republican nominee tries to win back the White House after the 2020 defeat.
Trump used his cachet as a real estate developer and TV star to build a political movement, but he has refused to release his tax returns, as previous presidential candidates have done. The tax returns the public is aware of come from previous reporting by the Times and a public release of data by Democrats on the 2022 House Ways and Means Committee.
Trump’s presidential campaign released a statement in the name of son Eric Trump saying the IRS investigation was “handled years ago, but was not resurrected until my father ran for office. We are confident in our position.”
Tax records cited in the report show that Trump twice deducted losses from the Trump International Hotel and Tower, which opened in 2009 near the banks of the Chicago River that runs through that city’s downtown.
The report said Trump initially reported a $658 million loss in his 2008 returns, assuming the property met the IRS definition of “worthless” because condominium sales were disappointing and retail space remained vacant during a deep recession in the US.
But in 2010, the published report said, Trump transferred ownership of the property to another holding company that he also controlled, using a move to save money on taxes by transferring an additional $168 million over the next decade to report losses on the same property. .
The report provided no updates on the status of the IRS investigation as of December 2022, but said Trump could owe more than $100 million, including fines, if he lost the audit battle.
Trump, meanwhile, is appealing a New York judge’s February ruling following a civil lawsuit in which Trump, his company and top executives lied about his wealth on financial statements, defrauding bankers and insurers who did business with him. In early April, Trump posted a $175 million bond, halting collection of the more than $454 million he owes from the judgment and blocking the state from seizing his assets to pay off the debt while he appeals .
Democrat President Joe Biden has said Trump owes much of his fortune to an inheritance from his father, rather than his own financial acumen. Biden has gone after Trump for not wanting to pay taxes, while his administration has increased IRS funding to increase audits of the ultra-wealthy and improve federal tax compliance.
The Trump campaign is opposing the additional funding that Biden and Democrats have provided to the IRS. At campaign rallies, Trump has said the United States would be destroyed as a country unless his 2017 tax cuts, which are largely set to expire after 2025, are extended.