NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump has reported losses on his tax returns every year for a decade, including about $700 million in 2009 and about $200 million in 2010, his longtime accountant said Tuesday. testified to , confirming long-standing suspicions about the former president’s tax practices.
Donald Bender, a partner at Mothers USA LLP who spent years preparing Trump’s personal tax returns, said the losses Trump reported from 2009 to 2018 included those he owned through the Trump Organization. It said it included net operating losses from some of its many businesses.
“We’ve been losing money all these years,” said Bender, who was given immunity to testify in a criminal trial for corporate tax violations in Manhattan.
This brief exchange resulted in a rare public discussion of Trump’s taxes, which Republicans have fought to keep secret, even if it had no obvious connection to the case at hand.
Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger briefly questioned Bender during cross-examination about Trump’s taxes, and at one point, before moving on to other topics, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office had struggled for three years to obtain Trump’s I showed him a copy of my tax documents.
The Trump Organization, the holding company for Trump’s buildings, golf courses and other assets, be charged Helping some top executives avoid income tax on rewards they earn on top of their salaries, such as rent-free apartments and luxury cars. If convicted, the company could face fines of more than $1 million.
Mr Trump has not been charged in the case and is not expected to testify or appear in court. The company’s former finance chief testified that he came up with the plan himself, without the knowledge of Trump or his family.Allen Weisselberg testify As part of the plea bargain, the company also benefited because it no longer had to pay him a salary.
Bender’s testimony took place on a day filled with Trump-related courtroom drama, including the U.S. Supreme Court pave the way for Congress to obtain six years’ worth of tax returns for Trump and some of his businesses.
Also on Tuesday, a judge in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil fraud case against Trump and his company set a trial date for October 2023.Federal Court of Appeal Arguments heard In the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago document investigation. And Trump ally Senator Lindsey Graham, testified Before the Georgia grand jury investigates allegations of 2020 election interference.
Vendor’s tax loss testimony mirrors what The New York Times reported when it obtained a stack of Trump’s tax returns in 2020. The paper reported at the time that it reflected little or no tax being paid.
The Times reported that Trump paid no income tax in 11 of the 18 years his records were reviewed, and that he paid only $750 in federal income tax in 2017, the year Trump became president. Citing other Trump tax records, The Times previously reported that he claimed losses of $915.7 million in 1995.
Manhattan prosecutors filed a subpoena against the vendor’s firm in 2019 seeking access to Trump’s eight years of tax returns and related documents, ending a protracted legal battle that included two appearances before the U.S. Supreme Court. Finally got them.
The vendor has handled tax returns and other financial matters for Trump, the Trump Organization, and hundreds of Trump affiliates since the 1980s. He also prepared taxes for members of the Trump family and other company executives, including Weisselberg and Weisselberg’s son, who managed a company-run ice rink in Central Park.
Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August to evading taxes on $1.7 million in additional fees in exchange for a five-month prison sentence and tax the additional fees paid by his company, including an apartment in Manhattan and a Mercedes-Benz car. He testified that he hid it from his income. Comptroller Jeffrey McConney reduces his salary by the cost of these perks.
Bender testified that Weisselberg had kept the deal a secret from him, and was informed about it last year by prosecutors.
But emails filed in court on Tuesday suggest McConney tried to implicate him in 2013, and the accompanying spreadsheet shows Weisselberg’s salary and Trump’s grandson’s It stated a reduction in extra fees, including tuition fees paid for private schools.
Bender testified that he received numerous emails daily from Trump executives, but said he did not recall seeing those messages. We had a serious talk.”
Mazars USA LLP has since removed Trump as a client. In February, the company said its annual financial statements prepared for James “should no longer be relied upon” after saying James’ office regularly misstates the value of assets. . her lawsuit.
Trump wrote on the Truth Social platform last week, accusing Bender and Mazars of causing trouble for the company, writing: Very unfair!
Bender testified that he held Weisselberg accountable for resolving every issue amid heightened scrutiny by the Trump Organization after Trump’s election in 2016, and advised him to stop one shady practice.
An accountant said he told Weisselberg:
___
Follow Michael Sisak on Twitter. twitter.com/mikesisak To send a secret tip, https://www.ap.org/tips/.