There have long been questions about the conflicts of interests surrounding Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump in their tenures in the Trump administration. The latest: an investigation outlining how the pair stands to benefit from a tax break they pushed to get passed.
The Associated Press on Wednesday outlined how Kushner and Trump could make money off the so-called “Opportunity Zone” program that was passed as part of the Republican tax bill in 2017. The program is meant to encourage investment in low-income urban and rural communities by giving preferential tax treatment to those who build and invest there.
Kushner and Trump both have significant interests in real estate — and pushed to get the Opportunity Zone program passed.
On Wednesday, Trump signed an executive order directing more resources to the program.
There’s no evidence that the pair has been involved in selecting any of the current 8,700 Opportunity Zones in the US or has attempted to shape them to benefit from them financially. It’s not known if the projects tied to them will seek the tax breaks. But the potential for them to make money is still there, per the AP:
Ivanka Trump was an especially important advocate of the Investing in Opportunity Act, which was first proposed under the Obama administration but never gained traction then.
She worked closely with Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) on the matter before and after President Donald Trump met with him after racist violence broke out at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017. The president reportedly “promised Scott his support for Opportunity Zones as a way to show his administration’s outreach to minority communities,” but Scott had already been speaking with the president’s daughter.
Scott’s communications director said Ivanka was “on board with it” and spoke with the senator about a dozen times. He also spoke with Kushner, but not as much.
Even the president took note of his daughter’s interest in the matter. The AP highlighted a moment in the Oval Office earlier this year when Trump touted the Opportunity Zones program and asked Ivanka to speak, since “you’ve been pushing this very hard.”
It’s not just Cadre, where Kushner now holds a passive stake, that could make money off of Opportunity Zones. According to the AP, several real estate and private equity interests tied to Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump and the Trump administration have made plans to create investment funds related to the program.
One of those people is short-lived White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci, whose hedge fund, Skybridge Capital, has launched a fund. Megabank Goldman Sachs is also positioned to make money off of Opportunity Funds.
The program itself is controversial: While proponents say it could spur investment in areas developers might otherwise avoid, detractors say it could speed up gentrification and push up prices.
It’s also a good way to skirt taxes: The program lets investors defer capital gains taxes from previous investments until 2026. If they stay invested for at least five years, they get to exclude 10 percent of gains from taxes. If they stay up to seven years, that goes to 15 percent. Capital gains taxes are the taxes paid when you sell an investment.
Trump’s executive order on Wednesday established the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, a group chaired by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson that will “engage with all levels of government on ways to better use taxpayer dollars to revitalize low-income communities.” The order is meant to encourage development in Opportunity Zones and reassure investors about the program.
How much money Trump and his family are making off of his presidency is a central question of this administration
As the AP notes, that there’s no evidence Ivanka Trump and Kushner have had a hand in shaping where Opportunity Zones are or will take advantage of the tax breaks. And Trump’s attorney, Abbe Lowell, said Trump has “divested assets, set up trusts, removed herself from businesses and decisions about her investments.”
But this report speaks to an ongoing question dogging the Trump White House: How much will the president and those around him gain from his position?
Trump has separated himself from the Trump Organization but he hasn’t divested from his businesses, which ethics experts say would be necessary for him to be completely removed. There has been a slew of reporting about how Trump is making money while president. According to a June report from ProPublica, campaigns and government agencies spent more than $16 million on Trump’s properties since the 2015 campaign. Foreign dignitaries and others looking to curry favor with the president appear to have taken a keen interest in spending money at his hotels as well.
Kushner and Ivanka Trump made at least $82 million in outside income while serving as White House advisers in 2017.
The problem isn’t just that money’s being made, it’s also that there’s so little transparency around it. The president’s tax returns, for example, have never been made public, and we don’t know what his involvement in his businesses does and doesn’t entail.
Perhaps Kushner and Ivanka Trump simply wanted to help boost under-invested areas, but given the cloud around the administration already, it’s impossible to tell.
Sourse: breakingnews.ie
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