Legal obstacles to pursuing tax charges against Trump family
New York officials are looking for ways to go after President Trump following a blockbuster story detailing his family’s tax practices. But experts say any efforts by federal and state authorities to impose penalties on the president would face serious legal and practical obstacles.
The New York Times on Tuesday published an investigative report, based on a review of more than 100,000 pages of documents, describing “dubious” tax schemes that the president and his family engaged in during the 1990s so that his parents could avoid gift and estate taxes. The article prompted calls for government probes.
A spokesman for the New York State tax and finance department said the agency is “vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) said the city would seek to recover any money owed by the president and the city's deputy mayor told the Times on Thursday that it would look into whether there were underpaid real estate transfer taxes and property taxes.
And congressional Democrats are calling for investigations, as well as the release of the president’s tax returns.
“There is a reason why the president has refused to release his tax returns and we are starting to see why,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said in a statement to The Hill. “Nobody should be above the law, there should be an investigation, and if he committed fraud, he should face the same consequences as anyone else and every penny should be paid back.”
https://thehill.com/policy/finance/domestic-taxes/410022-legal-obstacles-to-pursuing-tax-charges-against-trump-family?userid=229233