MINGLING EXPENSES?: There are multiple instances in which Trump may be improperly deducting money spent on personal activities and hobbies as business expenses. The IRS’s approach to auditing Trump’s 2015 return was affected, JCT said, by “the complexity of issues being worked for tax years 2009 through 2013” and “the prior years’ tax liabilities have not been settled.” But JCT’s report indicates the IRS has been examining those losses, and it appears to be one reason why the department was slow to audit Trump’s subsequent returns. Little has been publicly known about how the IRS goes about implementing its long-standing policy of auditing every president. ![]() Rosenthal said lawmakers made a mistake in not demanding more of Trump’s filings from previous years, when the losses were first claimed. It’s hard to tell because it appears those losses began in years that predate the returns Democrats received. “It’s the elephant in the room,” said Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center. In August, Trump’s campaign spent $232,800 on security-related costs, including payments to private companies such as Xmark LLC, Black Tie Protection Services and KS Global Group, as well as local police in places he visited.The big question is whether those losses are legitimate. Of course, Trump also travels on the campaign trail with his own robust private security detail. The agency paid the Trump campaign an additional $724,000 for air travel that was refunded, according to the FEC reports, which do not offer an explanation for the refund. But those expenses don’t appear in FEC reports because the government pays them directly. The Secret Service could also end up paying Trump’s hotels to put up his agents when the candidate stays there. So it’s conceivable that media outlets might end up paying the Trump campaign for the cost of staying in a Trump-owned hotel or flying on a Trump-owned plane. ![]() The journalists or their employers reimburse the campaigns for travel costs. The same rationale applies to journalists who travel with the presidential candidates. government reimburses the Trump campaign for its expenses.” “It’s either Trump making a contribution to the U.S. “It’s basically just calling it even,” Engle said. The government’s practice of reimbursing campaigns for costs incurred by their Secret Service details dates from an era when campaigns were lower-budget affairs, the logic being candidates shouldn’t have to use their own resources on required security, according to Craig Engle, a political lawyer at Arent Fox who helped draft the provision as a staffer at the Federal Election Commission. The statement explained the campaign’s payments to TAG Air and other Trump-owned companies by saying “the campaign has used known quantities as far as event space, air travel and accommodations, and has fulfilled all FEC requirements throughout the campaign.” The campaign in a statement on Thursday rejected that criticism as “misleading and flat out wrong,” pointing out that the amount the campaign spent at Trump’s businesses is far less than the $54 million of his own money that Trump has pumped into the campaign. He has made a point of highlighting his properties on the campaign trail, leading opponents to accuse him of using his presidential bid to promote his brand and line his pockets. Trump, who once said “I could be the first presidential candidate to run and make money on it,” has attracted criticism for mixing business and politics to an unprecedented degree. Secret Service spokeswoman Nicole Mainor said the FEC “specifically requires security personnel such as the Secret Service to reimburse campaigns for seats” on charter aircraft.Ī POLITICO analysis of FEC records found that, through the end of August, Trump’s campaign has spent at least $8.2 million at Trump’s own businesses, including to hold events at his hotels, buy food from his restaurants and rent office space for its headquarters in his Manhattan office tower.īut the biggest chunk of the expenses, almost $6 million, were to TAG Air, Inc. Please direct further questions to USSS.” Trump campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks responded to questions about the Secret Service payments by saying “everything was done in accordance with FEC guidelines and regulations.
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