As Donald Trump prepared for the Republican primaries, he transferred dozens of his most prized assets, the “Trump” trademarks that adorn everything from hotels to ties to his U.S. golf courses, into a new Delaware-based company -- a move that offers him a chance to cut his income-tax bills.
By shifting more than 110 registered or pending trademarks to Delaware, Trump consolidated them in a state that doesn’t tax income from royalties on intellectual property. Among the trademarks he moved are his own name and those of some of his best-known properties, including “Trump National Golf Club,” “Trump Tower” and “Mar-a-Lago,” his private club in Palm Beach, Florida, according to records from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
He also shifted some of his less prominent trademarks, including “Trumptini,” a martini made with pink lemonade, and a design of a Scottish crest that he applied for and received in 2012. The crest shows a lion, a two-headed eagle and the Latin phrase “Nunquam Concedere” which means “Never Give Up.”
Moving the trademarks to his new company, DTTM Operations LLC, will enable Trump to avoid other states’ income taxes on royalties paid for their use -- an income stream worth perhaps tens of millions of dollars or more, according to a federal financial disclosure form he filed this month.
‘It’s Confidential’
“If he contributes all of that IP to a Delaware entity, that’s a fairly big tax break and a fair amount of change,” said Robert Reilly, a certified public accountant and managing director at Willamette Management Associates, a Chicago firm that specializes in the valuation of businesses and intellectual property.
The chief custodian of Trump’s trademarks declined to discuss why his boss, who previously owned the trademarks personally, made the change.
“I can’t get into that; it’s confidential,” said Alan Garten, the executive vice president and general counsel of the Trump Organization. He added later: “It’s sort of too complicated to explain.” After an initial brief telephone interview, in which he said Trump still personally owned some foreign-registered trademarks, Garten didn’t respond to repeated telephone and e-mail requests for comment.
No Returns
Much of Trump’s tax planning remains a mystery. After initially saying he’d release his federal income tax returns, he then defied decades of tradition by declining to do so. Trump has said his returns are being audited by the Internal Revenue Service, and that he’ll keep them private until the audit is over. The IRS has said there’s no rule barring people from releasing returns that are under audit.
Trump’s campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, said last week that he’ll be “surprised” if Trump ever releases his tax returns. “I wouldn’t necessarily advise him to,” Manafort told The Huffington Post. “It’s not really an issue for the people we are appealing to. His tax returns are incredibly complicated.”