President Trump’s recent financial disclosure finally put a dollar amount on the web of crypto ventures he’s continued to pursue since returning to office. But the revelation he made $1.4 billion off the fledgling industry has rekindled another mystery about his finances: how much is he paying in taxes?
The president’s crypto windfall appears to be taxable. One accountant who specializes in cryptocurrency income said it was reasonable to believe Mr. Trump would have to pay at least $250 million on this income.
Still, multiple tax experts told CBS News that Mr. Trump’s actual bill may be far lower, but it would be hard to know because of the lack of transparency around the corporate entities holding the income. Unlike several past presidents, Mr. Trump does not make his tax returns public.
“What we know is that he did very well for himself, but we don’t know how the beneficial ownership is structured,” said Omri Marian, a law professor who specializes in cryptocurrency taxation. “This is like looking at a black box and I can’t see inside.”
The White House declined to respond to questions about any taxes Mr. Trump paid on the crypto income, whether it was taxed on an individual or business basis and whether any operating losses were applied to his crypto-related tax bill.
If the entire $1.4 billion were to be taxed at a federal individual income rate, the president would owe the IRS $518 million, based on the maximum statutory rate of 37%, without accounting for potential deductions.
According to the IRS, digital assets are subject to the same capital gains taxes as transactions of traditional securities. But Marian said because of the limited descriptions of the income sources on his financial disclosure, it’s impossible to determine whether the money would be considered capital gains or ordinary income.
For example, the $625 million Mr. Trump collected from his $TRUMP meme coin is described as a royalty from a licensing agreement with a company called Celebration Coins. According to the disclosure, World Liberty Financial, the crypto company he co-founded with his sons, paid him more than $590 million in proceeds from the sales of digital tokens and sale of an equity stake in the business.
Then there is the question of whether the income is ultimately being paid to Mr. Trump himself or to a business associated with the president. The latter would command a lower corporate tax rate, but in either scenario, Mr. Trump could offset his gains with losses.
“It’s really, really difficult for me to say what the tax consequences are for him personally and for the entities involved, without knowing much more about them,” Marian said.
Knowing much more is likely to prove elusive.
According to a controversial settlement agreement the Justice Department signed in May, the IRS and the Treasury Department are “FOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED” from pursuing claims against Mr. Trump or his company, based on prior tax returns. The agreement settled a lawsuit by the president that accused the IRS of failing to protect his tax returns by allowing a government contractor to leak the documents to news outlets including the New York Times in 2020.
The settlement included a more than $1.7 billion “anti-weaponization” fund that would offer payments to people who alleged they were victims of government “lawfare.” The fund outraged Democrats and Republicans alike, and its creation was paused by a federal judge. Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche subsequently told Congress the Justice Department was “not moving forward with the fund.”
