Trump May Owe More Than $100 Million in Back Taxes: Report
Uncle Sam might soon be knocking on Donald Trump’s door — to the tune of more than $100 million.
A joint investigation by the New York Times and ProPublica found the former president and real estate mogul had claimed the same construction project as a tax write-off twice, reporting hundreds of millions of dollars in losses that are under ongoing audit by the IRS.
The audit stems from the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, Trump’s most recent major construction project. Built in 2008 on the cusp of the Great Recession, the 92-story building was a major money hole for Trump that he claimed as a “worthless” deduction on his tax return that year, citing the debt load overtook any profit generated from the building.
Trump then claimed the tower as a loss again in 2010 after moving it to a new partnership that he was still in charge of, claiming an additional $168 million in losses from it through the course of the next decade, the investigation found. Details of Trump’s IRS audit were first revealed in 2020 when documents showed the agency investigating a nearly $73 million tax refund starting in 2010 — the same year as the new Chicago tower partnership.
The IRS declined to comment on the audit, citing federal law that barred the agency from publicly discussing taxpayer information. Trump’s son Eric Trump, the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, defended his father’s tax maneuvers.
“This matter was settled years ago, only to be brought back to life once my father ran for office,” Eric Trump told the Times. “We are confident in our position, which is supported by opinion letters from various tax experts, including the former general counsel of the I.R.S.”
The matter remains under ongoing audit, the investigation reported, with the last public update made in December 2022 when the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation made a passing reference to it in a report.
Trump will likely not face any tax penalties until the audit concludes and after any appeals made by his legal team. However, the nine-figure potential bill adds onto the mountain of penalties facing Trump, including the $83.3 million stemming from his defamation case brought by the writer E. Jean Carroll and the $464 million verdict in his civil fraud suit. Trump has secured bonds in both cases, which remain under ongoing appeal.