Trump And Clinton Returns And What Regular Folk Need To Know About Carryovers
When Donald Trump’s return was handed off by Jack Mitnick in 1996 or 1997, there was probably very good documentation of his regular tax NOL which we know was in the $900 million range. I would not bet that there was great documentation of the AMT NOL. I may be selling Mitnick short there, but the guy had software that could not handle a nine-digit number, so it is very unlikely that, at that point, it was tracking the AMT NOL for him. That was still relatively early in the computerization of individual returns and there were lots of problems with carryovers.
The Unintended Tax Loophole That Might Have Saved Donald Trump Big Bucks
What strikes me as improbable is that there was an S Corporation that held enough of the Trump empire to facilitate a nearly billion-dollar free basis step-up that does not show up in the public record anywhere. Like the proverbial economist who stranded on an island suggests that he and his companions “assume a can opener”, Lee Sheppard assumes an S corporation. While it might be common to use an S corporation as a 1% general partner, that would not be enough to pull this off. At least in my experience, you don’t want to have the bulk of a real estate investment in an S corporation, because, unlike a partnership, you don’t have basis in the entity’s indebtedness making me less inclined to assume an S corporation, particularly since no one seems to be putting forth a candidate.
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Over and over again courts have said that there is nothing sinister in so arranging one’s affairs as to keep taxes as low as possible. Everybody does so, rich or poor; and all do right, for nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands: taxes are enforced exactions, not voluntary contributions. To demand more in the name of morals is mere cant.