Donald Trump‘s real estate company has been found guilty of inflating the value of its properties to gain favorable loan agreements and other financial advantages. In a case specifically cited by Judge Arthur F. Engoron, Trump had listed his Trump Tower apartment as a 30,000 square foot abode, when it allegedly measured about 11,000 square feet — a mistake a real estate developer would never make, said the judge in his ruling.
Denying the charges of fraud outside his New York civil trial to determine damages owed for the transgressions, Trump railed against the case, saying that the judge was working with faulty data. In one of Trump’s impromptu courthouse press conferences, the former President said that his Florida home, Mar-A-Lago, which doubles as a private club, has a value of $1.5 billion — not the lowball $18 million presented to the court.
Most real estate-savvy observers understand the value probably falls in between those figures, and far south of Trump’s $1.5 billion claim.
[Note: Some of Trump’s more inventive supporters have called for Elon Musk to make Trump’s claims the truth by purchasing Mar-A-Lago for the $1.5 billion estimate, saying that if Musk pays that price then Trump is right — that’s what it’s worth. The theory, clever as it is, runs into trouble though when considering Musk’s admission that he sometimes pays more for things than they are worth. Months after purchasing Twitter for $44 billion, Musk estimated the company was worth half that.]
Certain lawmakers are willing to accept Trump’s outsize valuation, however — as long as the former President is willing to back up his claim by paying the commensurate tax burden that owning a $1.5 billion estate would cost him.
Congressman Jared Moskowitz (D-FL) is asking Palm Beach to adjust the value of Mar-A-Lago to match Trump’s valuation, and to tax Trump accordingly. That would mean, based on some back-of-the-envelope calculations, that Trump would owe yearly nearly $17 million, almost the full currently assessed value of the property.
Donald Trump & his family have argued all week in his fraud trial that Mar-a-Lago is actually worth a billion dollars, even though its taxable value is listed as $18 million.
— Congressman Jared Moskowitz (@RepMoskowitz) October 5, 2023
So I wrote to the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser that it’s time for Trump to pay more in taxes. pic.twitter.com/eAWEDE2exV
Using the real property tax rate from H&R Block for Palm Beach, Florida — 1.12% — and valuing Mar-A-Lago at $1.5 billion, the annual burden comes out to $16,800,000.
Property Value = $1.5 billion, Tax Rate = 1.12% (0.0112 as a decimal)
Annual Property Tax = $1,500,000,000 × 0.0112
Annual Property Tax = $16,800,000
So, the annual property tax on a property valued at $1.5 billion with a tax rate of 1.12% would be $16,800,000.
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