[ad_1]
Jared Kushner has a net worth of nearly $ 324 million and his business has been profitable. But Mr. Kushner, son-in-law and senior advisor to President Trump, seems to have paid almost no federal income tax for several consecutive years, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times.
[[[[Read the full story on how Mr. Kushner seems to have paid virtually no income tax.]
Here's an example of how he did it:
Step 1: The purchase
Kushner Companies is buying a property. Most of the money for the purchase comes in the form of mortgages and personal loans from banks.
Step 2: The radiation
Under the federal tax code, real estate investors can write down the purchase price of the building – excluding the cost of land – over a period of several decades. Although Kushner Companies spent little or no money, the company levies large annual deductions on the basis of the theoretical depreciation of the building.
Step 3: The loss
The property generates money for the Kushners. But all revenues, which would be subject to federal income tax, are overwhelmed by the amount that the corporation levies in depreciation. The result is that Kushner Companies has a net loss for tax purposes.
Step 4: Investors
The company passes this loss on to its owners, including Mr. Kushner and his father, Charles.
Step 5: The shift
The loss can be used to offset the Kushners' income in the year it is recorded, and can be carried forward to cancel future income or to obtain a refund of taxes paid in previous years.
Step 6: The postponement
When Kushner Companies sells a property, it can use the proceeds of the sale to finance a new acquisition. If this is done in a timely manner, the company may defer indefinitely any capital gains taxes it may incur on the sale of the original property.
Step 7: the result
The result is evident in Jared Kushner's tax returns, which have been summarized in papers reviewed by the New York Times. Here is an example of 2015.
Income
deductions
Total adjusted gross income
Refund of tax
Peter Mirijanian, a spokesman for Mr. Kushner's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said he would not react to assumptions made from documents that provide an incomplete picture and that were "obtained in violation of the law and standard agreements on confidentiality.
"However," he continued, "always following the advice of many lawyers and accountants, Mr. Kushner correctly classified and paid all taxes due under the law and regulations. "
The documents
The documents reviewed by The Times were created, with the cooperation of Mr. Kushner, as part of a review of his finances by an institution that was considering lending him money. With a total length of more than 40 pages, they describe his commercial relations, his profits, his expenses and his borrowings from 2009 to 2016. They contain information extracted from Mr. Kushner's federal tax returns. , as well as other information provided by his advisers. The documents, created most of the time last year, were shared with the Times by someone who had financial dealings with Mr. Kushner and his family.
The documents include Mr. Kushner's Statement of Net Worth, presented below.
