Trump claims his golf courses are worth tens of millions. Until the tax bill arrives
Source: Washington Post
When Donald Trump submitted financial disclosure forms to election regulators, he bragged that his portfolio included some of the “finest and most iconic properties in the world.” Among them was Trump National Golf Club Jupiter in Jupiter, Fla., which Trump valued at more than $50 million.
That came as a surprise to officials in Palm Beach County, where the golf course is located. A few months earlier, for the third straight year, Trump’s attorney had gone to court to argue that, for the sake of calculating his tax bill, the property was worth “no more than $5 million.”
A Washington Post review of local property records revealed the same pattern across most of Trump’s U.S. golf courses. For eight of the 10 courses on which he pays taxes, Trump reported in his May filing to the Federal Election Commission that the courses were worth tens of millions of dollars even as his attorneys have pressed local tax officials to value the properties at a fraction of those amounts.
The contrasting figures add to the mystery surrounding Trump’s personal finances, which have emerged as a campaign issue as he has refused to release his tax returns. And they reflect what critics say is Trump’s willingness to calibrate his wealth claims depending on the circumstances — going high to impress voters and back up his claim that he is worth $10 billion, a figure questioned by many experts, and going lower to argue for smaller tax bills.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/how-much-does-trump-claim-his-golf-courses-are-worth-it-depends-who-needs-to-know/2016/08/21/71828f3a-5f3c-11e6-9d2f-b1a3564181a1_story.html
Thank god for the print media. The New York Times and the Washington Post are doing damned fine reporting on Trump. Television news, on the other hand, not so much.
Maybe, just maybe, Trump is going to be smoked out on his finances by a combination of the NYT, the Washington Post, and Clinton's own Opposition research team. I look for her to drop a bombshell or two during the first debate.
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