Trump's Son-in-law Kushner 'paid No Income Tax For Years': NYT

NEW YORK, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Oct, 2018 ) :Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law and special advisor, appears to have paid no Federal income taxes for several years, according to confidential financial documents, The New York Times reported Sunday.

The documents reviewed by The Times describe his business dealings, earnings, expenses and borrowing from 2009 to 2016, and contain details from Kushner's federal tax filings.

Kushner's minimal tax payments are the result of a common tax-minimizing maneuver that generated millions of Dollars in losses for Kushner, according to the documents. His net worth is almost at $324 million, The Times reported.

The report said Kushner was able to avoid paying taxes by reporting the depreciation of his real estate holdings, a widely used tax break that is designed to account for the damage properties incur over time.

The article said Kushner earned $1.7 million in salary in 2015 and offset that income with more than $8.3 million in losses written off as a "significant depreciation." A 2017 tax-reform package that Congress passed in December allowed businesses to immediately write off more under depreciation and increased the maximum deduction from $500,000 to $1 million, according to the IRS.

The new law allowed property owners to expense improvements to nonresidential properties related to roofing, heating and air conditioning, fire protection systems and alarm systems.

The Times article follows an in-depth investigation the paper published earlier this month on how Trump used a special tax-sheltering vehicle known as a grantor-retained annuity trust to inherit millions of dollars worth of his father's real estate tax-free.

The scheme used by Trump for his inheritance money, which exceeded $400 million in today's money, helped cut his tax liability, according to the NYT.

Trump defended the use of tax breaks at his debate with Hillary Clinton during the 2016 presidential campaign.

When Clinton criticized Trump for avoiding to pay taxes in full, Trump replied to Clinton saying that the avoidance of paying taxes made him seem "smart."