Prosecutors Squeeze Trump Org CFO With Subpoena For His Grandkids’ Private School | Talking Points Memo

[bunnyvelour]

I don’t think that private schools (except religious schools) are nonprofit. I think they’re incorporated.

[carpe_diem]

Squeeze him like a boa constrictor.

[19tibekius6]

At least some are nonprofit. I worked for one that was.

[JR_in_Mass]

@paulw

nonprofits that take in both deductible and non-deductible money really need to keep track of that sort of thing.

I once worked in a college development office, and I’m pretty sure any tuition payment would be processed as such, not as a gift. The tuition would have to be accounted for somehow, and it couldn’t be by “full-tuition scholarship to the child of this person who just generously made a $50,000 gift.”

Maybe, if you set up an endowed scholarship fund, you might be able to make a suggestion about the first persons to whom that scholarship would be available. That seems shaky too, though, and would cost a lot more.

[hahagoodman]

@paulw

with tax evasion as the only defense.

Hmmmm may be a good time for them to make a deal

[cgwca]

The key issue for the school is whether the “donor” was given a letter supporting a charitable contribution. If so, the school could have some exposure. But if all the school did is cash the checks, they could claim to not know that tuition payments were being mischaracterized as contributions.

[slimjim33]

@fuadreviez

Weisselberg is going to have to choose between protecting Donald Trump or spending possibly all of the rest of his life in prison.

Weisselberg isn’t going to flip on Trump. He will be loyal to Trump to his last breath.

[clairer]

Should they also look into the weirdly high salary Weisselberg’s son makes running a skating rink? It’s probably more work than I realize, but hmmm

[woland66]

The article does not state this explicitly but it reads as if the latest payment is quite recent (the grandchildren are still students at the school and ex-wife of the son states that they never paid tuition). Which would this within the stature of limitations. And if it is – what are the minimum penalties?

[rascal_crone]

[rascal_crone]

@spencersmom

as well as the outrage of all the other parents who paid their ridiculous fees without the benefit of the 100% write-off.

I can tell you this makes them tremble even more than the authorities finding out.

[thomaspaine]

This is just so Trumpy…its all about control with him. Having him pay the tuition directly allowed him to determine what school the kids went to, etc., etc., etc. It holds a threat over the heads of the help like a Sword of Damocles. It would be ironic, if it turns out the same sword cuts Trump’s own balls off and sends him into the Big House for good.

[eggrollian]

My youngest brother was a real screw-up, so my parents gathered all the money they could to put him for one year in a private school for millionaire’s kids. He came back completely changed and went on to get his degree in business and engineering and became a very high-paid corporate exec for one of the world’s 100 largest firms… Literally, these people showed him where the Money River was. Now all he does is charity and philanthropic work, like money really never mattered.

[robcat2075]

TPM… in a story with at least three Weisselbergs you shouldn’t refer to someone as just “Weisselberg”

[playitagainrowlf]

@mikebnews

I’m a little surprised that the bodies of potential persons of interest have not started piling-up yet

Hey c’mon, what are you trying to do - ruin the next season for us all!?!

[dedwords]

Well, there’s that at least. British investment bankers make a living on it.

[andhow]

@ealleniii

I went to a private college prep high school. All it gave me was arrogance.

This statement is, itself, full of arrogance.

[ruffian]

I do hope you have nothing to do with any business because you clearly have no clue as to how the finances work. And if you do run a business, I sure hope you are not doing your own taxes based on this theory of accounting…

[bluestatedon]

Alan Weisselberg is reportedly fanatically loyal to Trump, which might explain why he hasn’t “rolled over” on Trump already. In addition, given Trump’s extensive connections to the Russian mob, it wouldn’t be surprising if Weisselberg fears retribution from the Russians much more than he does simply being in some minimum-security prison.

Whether the other members of the Weisselberg family are the same is another question.

[majesticunicorn]

Not really sure why the ad hominem but yeah I’m fairly well versed in tax provisions and payroll taxes. My bachelors and masters is in accounting, I worked years at a Big 4 accounting firm, and now I’m in corporate accounting and the AICPA thinks I’m in good standing. I’d be happy to chat about tax optimization of a legal entity structure or section 179 bonus depreciation if that’s something you’re into, but my experience is that the people who bark the loudest about others having “no clue how the finances work” are often projecting.

The above question is whether the expense needed to be made as a charitable contribution (theoretically to a 501©3) to be tax deductible. This is an innocent mistake most people make because the know that they can take a personal deduction for some charitable contributions and assume businesses can further lower their taxes by claiming a charitable contribution themselves. My point was simply that how the company classified it largely doesn’t matter because whether it was a donation or a benefit expense, that expense would lower the corporations taxable income.

The fraud would be not in misclassifying the expense, but in not reporting the benefit as income to the employee on the W-2 or personal tax return.

I’m sorry if that wasn’t clear enough before.