The tax bill President Donald Trump signed this week scraps a number of deductions, but his favorite one is still there.
It’s an obscure tax break that he’s used to the tune of $100 million in deductions on his income tax over the years.
The first time he qualified for it was in 1993 when he wanted the town of Palm Beach to approve a private club at Mar-a-Lago.
That deal hinged on an act of charity crafted to skirt IRS scrutiny and deliver for Trump a seven-figure tax break, a Palm Beach Post investigation found.
Since that time, Trump has deducted the special charitable donations on golf courses as well. Also since that time, the tax break has landed on the IRS’ list of “Dirty Dozen Tax Scams” because of abuse by the wealthy.
In 1993, Trump had a cash problem. He needed Mar-a-Lago to be a money maker, not a money pit.
How to please a town council that was already hostile toward the brash New Yorker?
If the town would allow the private club, Trump said he would make a special kind of charitable donation that would legally require him to preserve Mar-a-Lago.
And it just so happened that he could get a $5.7 million tax break on top of that.
His lawyers insisted the particulars of that deal be kept out of writing, The Post found. There was a reason.
Was the tax break on the up and up?
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