Ex-Trump Organization CFO says Trump family was in the dark on tax fraud scheme

NBC News ^ | 17 Nov 2022 | Reiss, Winter, Atkins and Gregorian

[blueplum]

"Did you conspire with the Trump family?" Allen Weisselberg was asked by a Trump lawyer. "No," he replied....

...Allen Weisselberg, 75, testified for a second day in the criminal trial of Trump's family business in New York City...

....Under questioning from Futerfas, Weisselberg said the only person who knew he wasn’t paying the proper taxes on the perks was McConney.

[BenLurkin]

Meanwhile the Bidens openly brag about their crimes and the authorities look the other way.

[mountainlion]

Meanwhile Buyden launderers billions of dollars through Ukraine, Afghanistan and who know what else.

[Jonty30]

Another of Lucy’s football that Democrats fell for.

[joshua c]

how many times has this guy been exonerated?

i have lost track

[Ken H]

They didn’t fall for anything. They got what they wanted out of it -harassment of Trump and the MAGA movement.

[dp0622]

I don’t know who I’m voting for in the primaries yet.

That doesn’t mean AT ALL that I don’t LOVE ALL that Trump has done for us and am TIRED of his persecution.

The worst persecution this country has seen in decades.

I like Desantis (and not just because his four great grandparents are from Italy) :)

“Florida is where woke goes to die” was a great statement.

Maybe both of them on the same ticket..Trump as P and Desantis as VP?

Hey, crazier things have happened.

And of course I would vote for Trump if he was nominated and in the generals.

Oh and pence IS THE ####Y I ALWAYS KNEW HE WAS.

[tired&retired]

Next, Trump will be charged for having employees tear tags off mattresses!

[MAGAthon]

attributed to: “Reiss, Winter, Atkins and Gregorian

lol.

[Sacajaweau]

don’t laugh...i left the tag on my couch...for life.

[Alberta's Child]

Some of us knew this was a farce as soon as we read the details of the charges.

The Trump Organization had nothing to gain in this arrangement. It’s the employee, not the company, who has the obligation to pay the taxes on the “non-monetary” compensation like an apartment, a car, etc.

[Armscor38]

They gained by paying him less salary.

[Alberta's Child]

That’s the stupid rationale used by the New York prosecutor in the case. I wouldn’t expect to see that kind of idiocy here on FR.

If I pay my CFO $60,000/year less than the market rate for his services, and give him the free use of a $5,000/month apartment at the company’s expense, I’m still paying the $60,000 every year — aren’t I?

[MD Expat in PA]

The Trump Organization had nothing to gain in this arrangement. It’s the employee, not the company, who has the obligation to pay the taxes on the “non-monetary” compensation like an apartment, a car, etc.

This is not true. Any compensation unless specifically excludable under IRS rules, whether cash or non-cash, must be reported on the employee’s W2 with appropriate income taxes withheld and remitted and the company is responsible for the employer’s share of FICA, FUTA and SUI.

[Alberta's Child]

That may all be true, but the facts of this case are a little more complicated.

1. For years, there was no obligation for the company or the CFO to pay any taxes or report any “non-cash income” associated with the apartment. The CFO lived 3+ hours away in the Hamptons, and used the apartment in NYC during the week before traveling home for the weekends. For accounting purposes, the use of the company-paid apartment was no different than having the company reimburse the CFO for 4-5 nights in NYC hotels every week. There is no tax obligation in that case. Every large company I worked for had similar arrangements at their major offices for traveling staff. When we brought in a guy from our west coast office to work in our Midwest office for two months on a project, we didn’t put him up in a hotel for two months. He stayed at the company-owned condo that had been acquired specifically for situations like this. And I am 100% certain that this would not be considered “non-cash income” of any kind and reported on a W-2 form.

2. What happened with the Trump CFO was that at some point he sold his home in the Hamptons and moved into the apartment on a full time basis. At that point it effectively became his primary residence and could no longer be treated as a company expense for traveling employees.

3. I think it’s safe to assume that the CFO of the Trump Organization is paid so much in his normal “cash” compensation that he would exceed any caps for FICA or state disability/unemployment insurance contributions. The Medicare component of the payroll tax has no cap, but that’s a matter for the IRS, not the State of New York.

4. Regardless of whether the employer reports the “non-cash” compensation on a W-2, the tax obligation falls on the employee. In my line of work I routinely report income to the IRS that never shows up on a W-2 or 1099 form. The CFO of a company like the Trump Organization would know the intricacies of these things better than anyone else in the company.

[MD Expat in PA]

If I pay my CFO $60,000/year less than the market rate for his services, and give him the free use of a $5,000/month apartment at the company’s expense, I’m still paying the $60,000 every year — aren’t I?

Yes and no. In total you are giving the executive the same amount of “compensation” but not reporting the $5,000 per month apartment on the employee’s W2, means no income tax was withheld, the wages were not reported so there is no impetus for the employee to self-report and pay taxes on it, and the employer gets out of paying the employer’s share of FICA, etc.

[Liz]

Biden’s Department of Treasury blocked Repubs from accessing reports related to the Biden family’s suspicious overseas business dealings (SARs), according to a Thursday report from the committee.

ACTION Among the evidence we seek
<><>all docs and communications among employees or agents of Biden and the Treasury
<><>any and all references relating to the Biden Administration’s control, transfer, storage, or other handling of documents subject to SARs.

MUST INCLUDE ALL OF BIDENS MEMOS, NOTES, SNAIL MAIL, EMAIL, CALENDAR NOTES, OFFICIAL ORDERS WRT SARs.

All communications records between BIDENS office and RELEVANT PERSONS SUCH AS OBAMA, THE CLINTONS PELOSI, in connection with SARs.

The FOIA request should seek
all calendar entries,
phone messages,
text messages,
emails,
encrypted app chats,
letter correspondence
long-distance toll records
made from relevant dates.

Office of Information Policy (OIP)
U.S. Department of Justice
441 G St, NW, 6th Floor
Washington, DC 20530
E-mail: National.FOIAPortal@usdoj.gov

[Sirius Lee]

I don’t know who I’m voting for in the primaries yet.

I do. Trump.

However if a DeSantis or a Lake should win the primary, then I will vote for one of them. But if a lizard cheney or pence somehow win, then it will be the final proof that our elections are completely rigged, and I won't be participating any longer, and we're down to the last box.

[Alberta's Child]

P.S. … Maybe the tax laws and regulations have changed, but I have regularly received “non-cash” income in the past from employers — premiums for group life and disability insurance, for example. These were always reported on my W-2 form after the end of every year, but I don’t recall ever paying any payroll taxes on any of them.

And I was always under the impression that the employer reports these forms of compensation on a W-2 not to help the IRS ensure compliance, but to let the employee know the exact amount of the non-cash compensation. If my employer hadn’t given me a W-2 form with the insurance premiums listed, I never would have known how much the company had actually paid for those things.

[Bikkuri]

"However if a DeSantis or a Lake should win the primary, then I will vote for one of them. But if a lizard cheney or pence somehow win, then it will be the final proof that our elections are completely rigged, and I won't be participating any longer, and we're down to the last box."

I'm with you on that.