Trump helped parents dodge millions in taxes

Donald Trump helped his parents dodge millions of dollars in taxes and received far more money from his father’s real estate empire than he has claimed in the past, The New York Times reported Tuesday. Trump “participated in dubious tax schemes during the 1990s, including instances of outright fraud, that greatly increased the fortune he received from his parents,” the newspaper said. Trump has stated on numerous occasions that he received little help from his father, New York property developer Fred Trump, in building his fortune. But the newspaper said that Trump received the equivalent of $413 million in today’s dollars from his father’s real estate activities.

“By age 3, Mr. Trump was earning $200,000 a year in today’s dollars from his father’s empire,” the Times said. “He was a millionaire by age 8. “The money increased with the years, to more than $5 million annually in his 40s and 50s.” “He and his siblings set up a sham corporation to disguise millions of dollars in gifts from their parents,” it said. Trump also “helped his father take improper tax deductions worth millions more,” the newspaper added.

The Times said Trump’s parents, Fred and Mary Trump, who died respectively in 1999 and 2000, transferred more than $1 billion in wealth to their children.This could have produced a tax bill of at least $550 million but the Trumps paid a total of just $52.2 million, the Times said, citing tax records. Trump declined to comment on the article.