How the Trump Organization cheated on taxes

The Trump Organization leased luxury cars for executives and their wives. The company paid for beds, TVs, carpeting and furniture for the Florida home of Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, and for utilities, cable and parking garage fees in Manhattan. Trump himself paid the private school tuition for his chief financial officer’s grandchildren.

Checks were made out to an employee in the mailroom to cash and were booked as “Holiday Entertainment” but given to the CFO for personal tips. Tax statements were issued that did not disclose executives’ Manhattan living quarters so they did not pay city taxes. The personal expenses were not added to employees’ taxable income.

But some expenses were subtracted from salaries and bonuses, leaving the executives with less taxable income and the company with less payroll taxes. The scheme was a way to limit raises, while giving executives more money. CFO Weisselberg estimated that $100,000 worth of personal expenses he received was worth double that to him – $200,000 – in salary.