Radio Free never accepts money from corporations, governments or billionaires – keeping the focus on supporting independent media for people, not profits. Since 2010, Radio Free has supported the work of thousands of independent journalists, learn more about how your donation helps improve journalism for everyone.

Make a monthly donation of any amount to support independent media.





Treasury Inspector General Probes Possible Trump Tax Break Abuses

<p data-pp-blocktype="copy" data-pp-id="1.0">The Treasury Department&rsquo;s inspector general is looking into the opportunity zone program following stories by <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/how-a-tax-break-to-help-the-poor-went-to-nba-owner-dan-gilbert">ProPublica</a> and <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/26/business/michael-milken-trump-opportunity-zones.html">The New York Times</a> about how the tax break meant to help the poor had been manipulated by billionaires.</p>

The development, which was first reported by NBC News, comes after three congressional Democrats wrote to Treasury’s inspector general in October asking for the probe and citing the ProPublica and Times stories.

        <p data-pp-blocktype="copy" data-pp-id="3.0">&ldquo;We are conducting an inquiry, and expect to complete our work and respond to the Congressional requesters in early spring,&rdquo; Deputy Inspector General Richard Delmar said in a statement.</p>

The opportunity zone program, passed as part of the 2017 Trump tax overhaul, offers tax breaks to investors who put money into specially designated areas. While it was pitched as a way to help struggling neighborhoods, ProPublica and others have documented how the process has appeared to benefit billionaires with investments in areas that should not have qualified. In other cases, governors have granted the tax break to their political donors and, in some cases, themselves or their families.

                    <aside class="ad-300 hide-lg"><!-- /2219821/Mobile_Leaderboard --></aside><p data-pp-blocktype="copy" data-pp-id="5.0"><a href="https://projects.propublica.org/represent/members/B001288-cory-booker">Sen. Cory Booker</a>, an architect of the program, along with Reps. <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/represent/members/C001061-emanuel-cleaver-ii">Emanuel Cleaver</a> and <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/represent/members/K000188-ron-kind">Ron Kind</a>, asked the inspector general to do a &ldquo;complete review&rdquo; of areas picked for the opportunity zone tax break to see if they were truly eligible. The October letter also asked the inspector general to collect all correspondence between Treasury, White House officials and outside interests about the process.</p>

The inspector general said that once the inquiry is complete it plans to publicly post its response to the congressional Democrats.

Do you have access to information about opportunity zones that should be public? Email justin@propublica.org. Here’s how to send tips and documents to ProPublica securely.

<aside data-pp-id="6" data-pp-blocktype="promo" class="promo large right"><h3 class="aside-head">Read More</h3>









        <div class="story-entry section-articles" readability="20.502155172414">


                                                                                            <div class="lead-art">
                            <a class="aspect-3-2" href="https://www.propublica.org/article/superyacht-marina-west-palm-beach-opportunity-zone-trump-tax-break-to-help-the-poor-went-to-a-rich-gop-donor">
                                <img alt src="https://assets.propublica.org/images/articles/_threeTwo400w/20191114-lead-3.jpg" width="400" height="267" srcset="https://assets.propublica.org/images/articles/_threeTwo400w/20191114-lead-3.jpg 400w, https://assets.propublica.org/images/articles/_threeTwo800w/20191114-lead-3.jpg 800w, https://assets.propublica.org/images/articles/_threeTwo1200w/20191114-lead-3.jpg 1200w"></a>
                        </div>


                            <!-- end if Featured Image -->


        </div>



        <div class="story-entry section-articles" readability="24.239520958084">


                                                                                            <div class="lead-art thumbnail">
                            <a class="aspect-1-1" href="https://www.propublica.org/article/trump-inc-podcast-one-trump-tax-cut-meant-to-help-the-poor-a-billionaire-ended-up-winning-big">
                                <img alt src="https://assets.propublica.org/images/articles/_oneOne75w/20190619-parking-lot-oz-lead-1x1.jpg" width="75" height="75" srcset="https://assets.propublica.org/images/articles/_oneOne75w/20190619-parking-lot-oz-lead-1x1.jpg 75w, https://assets.propublica.org/images/articles/_oneOne150w/20190619-parking-lot-oz-lead-1x1.jpg 150w"></a>
                        </div>


                            <!-- end if Featured Image -->


        </div>


</aside>
Print
Print Share Comment Cite Upload Translate Updates

Leave a Reply

APA

by Justin Elliott | Radio Free (2020-01-16T16:33:00+00:00) Treasury Inspector General Probes Possible Trump Tax Break Abuses. Retrieved from https://www.radiofree.org/2020/01/16/treasury-inspector-general-probes-possible-trump-tax-break-abuses/

MLA
" » Treasury Inspector General Probes Possible Trump Tax Break Abuses." by Justin Elliott | Radio Free - Thursday January 16, 2020, https://www.radiofree.org/2020/01/16/treasury-inspector-general-probes-possible-trump-tax-break-abuses/
HARVARD
by Justin Elliott | Radio Free Thursday January 16, 2020 » Treasury Inspector General Probes Possible Trump Tax Break Abuses., viewed ,<https://www.radiofree.org/2020/01/16/treasury-inspector-general-probes-possible-trump-tax-break-abuses/>
VANCOUVER
by Justin Elliott | Radio Free - » Treasury Inspector General Probes Possible Trump Tax Break Abuses. [Internet]. [Accessed ]. Available from: https://www.radiofree.org/2020/01/16/treasury-inspector-general-probes-possible-trump-tax-break-abuses/
CHICAGO
" » Treasury Inspector General Probes Possible Trump Tax Break Abuses." by Justin Elliott | Radio Free - Accessed . https://www.radiofree.org/2020/01/16/treasury-inspector-general-probes-possible-trump-tax-break-abuses/
IEEE
" » Treasury Inspector General Probes Possible Trump Tax Break Abuses." by Justin Elliott | Radio Free [Online]. Available: https://www.radiofree.org/2020/01/16/treasury-inspector-general-probes-possible-trump-tax-break-abuses/. [Accessed: ]
rf:citation
» Treasury Inspector General Probes Possible Trump Tax Break Abuses | by Justin Elliott | Radio Free | https://www.radiofree.org/2020/01/16/treasury-inspector-general-probes-possible-trump-tax-break-abuses/ |

Please log in to upload a file.




There are no updates yet.
Click the Upload button above to add an update.

You must be logged in to translate posts. Please log in or register.