Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Newly-surfaced Trump tax receipts suggest major inconsistencies

President's financial records reveal 'stark differences' between reports to lenders and tax officials

Chris Riotta
New York
Wednesday 16 October 2019 13:28 EDT
Comments
Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin says the battle for President Trump's tax returns might ultimately have to be decided in court

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

An explosive new report details “stark differences” in how Donald Trump reported his business assets to lenders and New York City tax officials.

Experts say the discrepancies suggest a pattern in which the president made his businesses appear more profitable to lenders who gave him money for his ventures, and less profitable to the tax officials responsible for reviewing his finances.

He also reportedly inflated occupancy rates at his Manhattan building in documents to lenders, which experts said made his real estate property appear more profitable than it actually was.

The documents were obtained by ProPublica and first reported on Wednesday morning.

The documents Mr Trump provided to his lenders compared to those he gave the tax department in his home state appeared to show “two sets of books”, according to financing expert and New York University real estate professor Kevin Riordan, who reviewed the documents.

“It really feels like there’s two sets of books — it feels like a set of books for the tax guy and a set for the lender,” he told the outlet.

He added: “It’s hard to argue numbers. That’s black and white.”

For example, whereas Mr Trump reported he took out insurance for his New York property that totalled $744,521 (£579,822) in a report to tax officials, he told lenders the insurance only cost him $457,414 (£356,227) in records that same year, according to ProPublica’s reporting.

Nancy Wallace, a University of California-Berkeley finance and real estate professor at the Haas School of Business, described the reported discrepancies as “versions of fraud”.

“This kind of stuff is not OK,” she told ProPublica.

The report arrives as the House moves closer to receiving the president’s tax documents from Mazars USA, the longtime accountant of Mr Trump which has withheld his returns while awaiting court proceedings.

Mr Trump lost his appeal in a 2-1 ruling at the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last week.

Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events

The ruling says Mazars USA must comply with a subpoena from the House requesting more than eight years of Mr Trump’s financial records.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in