Tax Evasion vs. Tax Avoidance
At the top of July, the Trump Organization and CFO faced accusations of tax fraud dating back 15 years. The indictment suggests more than $1.7 Million in off-the-book fringe benefits such as a personal apartment rent, car payments and school tuition were paid to top level executives and not reported as income on executive’s W2s. As a result, the executives illegally avoided paying income taxes and the Trump Organization illegally avoided paying employer taxes. While no convictions have been made, we wanted to highlight the difference between legally and illegally reducing your taxes.