EXCLUSIVE “Donald Trump may have broken the law…” I know, you’re thinking, how quaint.
But the Donald Trump Foundation– now under investigation by NY State and soon to stand trial– has a legal issue.
The Trump Organization contributed $502,400 to the Foundation in 2017 according to recently released tax forms. But the Trump Foundation in turn didn’t disburse one penny of it, or the other $271,356 it received in unspecified donations. The information comes straight from the Foundation’s recently filed Form 990.
According to IRS rules, private charities must disburse at least 5% of the money they’ve taken in in one year. This is so donors can’t just park money in a tax free account. The Trump Foundation currently has $1.7 million in assets, but hasn’t given any of it away.
From the IRS: A foundation that fails to pay out the distributable amount in a timely manner is subject to a 30 percent excise tax under section 4942 on the undistributed income. The tax is charged for each year or partial year that the deficiency remains uncorrected. An additional 100 percent tax is triggered if the foundation fails to make up the deficient distribution within 90 days of receiving notification from the IRS of its failure to make minimum distributions.
So let’s see what the NY State Attorney General’s office, as well as the IRS, concurs about this latest chapter.