WASHINGTON POST • December x, 2022
The House Ways and Means Committee on Friday released Donald Trump’s tax returns. In 2018, an IRS agent began examining a $21.1 million deduction Trump claimed for a conservation easement at his Seven Springs estate in New York, according to a 40-page report from the staff of the Joint Committee on Taxation, which advises Congress on crafting and deciphering tax bills. The easement’s value was based on an appraisal that appears to have relied upon unsupported assertions and misleading conclusions. The IRS agent investigating the easement visited the property Jan. 24, and met with appraisers on Nov. 22. The agent kept notes mentioning two possible adjustments: disqualifying the entire deduction “based on the fact that the appraisal was not a qualified appraisal” or reducing the deduction to $8.95 million. The issue remains unresolved.