Should Donald Trump be re-elected in November, his financial situation should come even more into focus. Because the US president not only has trouble with the tax authorities. Loans are also due. And business is not going well.
Donald Trump's finances should continue to provide plenty of talking point in the coming year – regardless of whether he wins the presidential election or not. Because according to the "New York Times" Trump has to struggle with at least financial challenges: his golf courses and hotels write losses year after year, loans in the millions are due in the coming year and a dispute with the tax authority IRS could be very expensive for the president.
The litigation involves a tax refund of nearly $ 73 million. Trump received this in 2010. This is all of the federal income tax he paid between 2005 and 2007.
The background: In the USA, companies can claim losses for tax purposes and partially offset them against profits made elsewhere. Until 2009 this was only possible for two years. Then, in the face of the deep recession triggered by the financial crisis, then-President Barack Obama signed a law that extended the period to four years.
Trump took advantage of this and claimed a loss of $ 700 million retrospectively. According to the "New York Times" it is not clear from the documents available to it which business went wrong. Most likely it is about the bankruptcy of his Atlantic City casinos.
Losses in core business
In 2008, Trump did not pay any income tax, but after the change in the law, he was now able to claim back the money that he had transferred between 2005 and 2007. It remains to be seen whether the US president will be allowed to keep it. In the opinion of the IRS, he did not meet an essential requirement for the tax refund: He should have given up his participation completely and no longer had to make a profit from it. According to the "NYT", however, Trumps has received a share in the new company that emerged from the bankruptcy and thus lost the right to claim the losses. If the authority prevails, Trump would have to pay more than $ 100 million, it said.
In addition, Trump's core investments do not bring any money – on the contrary. Between 2000 and 2018, the losses of its golf departments totaled $ 315 million. His hotel in Washington is also in deficit. In addition, more than $ 300 million in loans will fall due over the next four years – commitments that Trump is personally liable for, not his corporate network, according to the newspaper. Overall, Trump stands for $ 421 million in debt. And it's unclear whether Trump is actually worth billions of dollars, as he claims.
Trump keeps his tax returns under lock and key, contrary to US presidential practice. He had not published his tax return during the 2016 election campaign, including reference to the ongoing IRS auditing. The tax authority itself emphasizes that an ongoing review does not stand in the way of publications.
Meanwhile, Trump is cursing the IRS. "You treat me terribly," he said on a Fox News talk show in July. "It's a shame".
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