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Donald Trump's Tax Returns May Be Hiding This Bombshell from the 1990s

by Shawn Tully September 26, 2016, 4:18 PM EDT .. un poco ..

The Trump debt relief saga peaked in 1992, when his major lenders agreed to shave $1.3 billion from the $3.5 billion Trump owed them. The crucial concession: Trump shed $770 million of the $885 million in loans from a group of lenders led by Citibank, guaranteed with his signature. In exchange, the banks seized parts of Trump’s empire, including the Trump Shuttle, the Regency Hotel in Atlantic City, and his 28% share in the Alexander’s department stores. But Trump kept his three Atlantic City casinos, the sprawling Penn Yards flanking the Hudson River, and his flagship Trump Tower in Manhattan, all assets crucial to his mid-1990s comeback.

The amount of “income” generated by those debt reductions is unclear, because we don’t know the fair market value of the assets the banks took in exchange for forgiving personally-guaranteed debt, including loans on the Trump Shuttle. The taxable amount would consist of the $770 million minus the value of properties surrendered to the lenders.

Even so, Trump’s tax liability from debt relief for that year could still have been substantial, possibly tens of millions of dollars. The maximum combined federal income tax rate in 1992 stood at 31% for individuals and 34% for businesses, and New York State added an additional 7.9%.

However, the IRS rules provide an escape hatch. If the borrower is “insolvent,”...

http://fortune.com/2016/09/26/donald-trumps-tax-returns-debt/