Former President Donald Trump could face a tax bill of more than $100 million for allegedly double dipping on deductions tied to the construction of a Chicago skyscraper that featured in the first season of his reality TV show "The Apprentice," according to a new report.
Various public records, including an obscure 2019 IRS memo that doesn't identify Trump by name, show he appeared to have written off off $651 million in losses from the project in 2008, according to an investigation byt the New York Times and ProPublica published by both news outlets Saturday.
But beginning in 2010, Trump allegedly declared another $168 in losses on the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago over the following decade, according to the report.
Trump's tax treatment of the project is reportedly mentioned in a December 2022 report by the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation that said an IRS audit of him was still underway at the time and could affect his returns for several years.
If the presumptive Republican 2024 presidential nominee is forced to revise his returns, he would face more than $100 million in taxes, the Times and ProPublica said they calculated with the help of six tax experts.
Those experts reportedly said Trump's accounting maneuvers were questionable and unlikely to withstand a challenge.
"I think he ripped off the tax system," said Walter Schwidetzky, a law professor at the University of Baltimore and an expert on partnership taxation.
Trump's son, Trump Organization executive vice president Eric Trump, reportedly responded to questions from the Times and ProPublica with a statement insisting: "This matter was settled years ago, only to be brought back to life once my father ran for office."
He added: "We are confident in our position, which is supported by opinion letters from various tax experts, including the former general counsel of the IRS."
An IRS spokesperson declined to comment, citing a law that prohibits the agency from discussing private taxpayer information.
From 2011 to 2017, Donald Trump declared $184 million in income and $219 million in cancelled debt, according to the Times and ProPublica.
The income reportedly came from deals to license his name and from "The Apprentice," during which he offered the winner of the first season a job working on the Chicago project.
But Trump only paid $643,431 in income taxes during those years by claiming huge business losses, including on the Chicago project, according to the Times and ProPublica.
During Trump's first presidential debate in September 2016, Hillary Clinton faulted Trump for not releasing his tax returns and he didn't deny her accusation that he didn't pay "any federal income tax" during some years.
"That makes me smart," Trump said.
If Trump were hit with a $100 million-plus tax bill, it would add to judgments against him of $83.3 million in a defamation case brought by writer E. Jean Carroll and $454 million in a civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Trump, who's now on trial in New York City for allegedly directing $130,000 in "hush money" payments to porn actor Stormy Daniels shortly before the 2020 election, is appealing both those civil verdicts.
