Wyden wants IRS probe of alleged Trump family tax fraud

Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., sent a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig on Wednesday, asking the IRS to fully investigate allegations of potentially illegal tax fraud committed by the Trump family.

The letter follows detailed reporting of tactics used by Trump and his father to avoid paying gift and estate taxes, the senator said in a news release.

“These allegations, first reported in the New York Times, indicate that in 1992 the Trump family established a sham company, All County Building Supply & Maintenance, for the principal purposes of avoiding gift tax and reducing the size of Fred Trump’s taxable estate,” wrote Wyden wrote..

Last year, the Senate Finance Committee issued a report exposing the types of tax avoidance techniques specialists use to get their wealthy clients out of paying estate taxes. Many of these tactics were included in yesterday’s New York Times story.

“These media reports represent serious and credible allegations of potentially illegal tax fraud, based on extensive documentation,” Wyden continued. “It is not clear whether the statute of limitations has expired in all cases. It is imperative that IRS fully investigate these allegations and prosecute any violations to the fullest extent of the law.”

A copy of Wyden’s letter to IRS Commissioner Rettig can be found here.

A copy of the Senate Finance Committee’s 2017 report on gift and estate tax avoidance can be found here.