Trump Tax Moves Stir Questions About Potential Legal Exposure

Lawyers say IRS faces uphill path to pursue criminal charges
Findings could spark more scrutiny from Democrats in Congress

Watch: Chris Mayer, co-Director of the Paul Milstein Center for Real Estate at Columbia Business School, talks about the analysis published by the New York Times based on more than two decades of President Donald Trump’s tax returns. (Source: Bloomberg)

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By Laura Davison, Allyson Versprille, and Aysha Bagchi

September 28, 2020 at 7:49 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

Deductions for haircuts, consulting fee write-offs, a family estate that is treated as a business property and an aggressive refund claim could open President Donald Trump to legal risks once he’s out of office.

An analysis published by the New York Times based on more than two decades of Trump’s tax returns the news organization obtained show that Trump took aggressive tax positions and that the IRS is challenging a $72.9 million refund claimed a decade ago in an audit that has yet to be resolved.