Sen. Jeff Flake singled out a tax break claimed by golf course owners, including President Trump, for criticism and ridicule in a new report published Tuesday.
The Arizona Republican included environmental incentives claimed by some golf courses among a list of egregious “tax expenditures,” alongside tax write-offs for alpaca farming and tax credits for power derived from chicken poop.
Flake’s report, titled “Tax Rackets,” is meant to highlight costly loopholes in the tax code that effectively function as spending and to promote reform.
One of the loopholes he identifies has been used by Trump in the past, although the report doesn’t draw the connection. A representative for Flake noted that the problem is not individuals’ use of credits or deductions, but rather the underlying flaws in the tax code, and said that Trump has shown he is eager for reform.
Trump claimed a $39.1 million deduction from his 2005 federal income taxes for donating a conservation easement on his New Jersey golf course, according to the Wall Street Journal. He may have been able to reap similar deductions in other years for his golf course.
A conservation easement is an agreement to permanently restrict certain kinds of building on land, an agreement that would apply to future owners as well. Recently, however, the IRS has challenged some golf courses’ claimed deductions, taking issue with the idea that the courses are meaningfully donating to aid the environment.
While Trump has benefited from such agreements, how much he saved in taxes is not known. Unlike past presidents, Trump has not released his tax returns. During the first presidential debate, he said that using tax breaks to reduce his taxable income was smart.
While Tuesday’s report didn’t criticize Trump, Flake did so during the presidential campaign and didn’t support Trump for president. Already, former state senator Kelli Ward, a vocal supporter of Trump, has announced her intention to run against Flake in the GOP primary for the 2018 election.
