--- description: The investigation comes after a New York Times article claiming Trump and his family evaded hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes. title: The New York State Tax Department Is Reviewing Fraud Allegations Involving the Trump Family image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt31e8c69e08ad4647/6988ac3c656a3fa632bcda78/donald-trump-2016-election-biography-photos-07.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Donald Trump](/tag/donald-trump/) ## Donald Trump Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The New York State Tax Department Is Reviewing Fraud Allegations Involving the Trump Family by [Gina Martinez](/author/gina-martinez/) ## Gina Martinez Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 3, 2018 3:17 PM CUT  Donald Trump and his father, Fred, in 1973 at Trump Village, Fred's last project, in Brooklyn. Donald was an apprentice to his father at the time. Donald Trump and his father, Fred, in 1973 at Trump Village, Fred's last project, in Brooklyn. Donald was an apprentice to his father at the time.Barton Silverman—The New York Times by [Gina Martinez](/author/gina-martinez/) ## Gina Martinez Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Oct 3, 2018 3:17 PM CUT New York State tax authorities are reviewing allegations in a New York _Times_ investigation that reported [decades of tax evasion](https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/10/02/us/politics/donald-trump-tax-schemes-fred-trump.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage "undefined") by President Donald Trump and his family. The _Times_ reported that President Trump received $413 million from his father Fred Trump over the span of decades, mostly through tax dodges that may have been illegal. The story, which TIME has not been able to independently verify, contradicts Trump’s claim that he is a self-made billionaire who built his real-estate empire from a $1 million loan from his father that he paid back with interest. “The Tax Department is reviewing the allegations in the New York _Times_ article and is vigorously pursuing all appropriate avenues of investigation.” James Gazzale, spokesman for Department of Taxation and Finance, told [_Bloomberg._](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-02/new-york-s-tax-department-probes-trump-taxes-from-decades-ago "undefined") President Trump’s lawyer Charles Harder called the _Times_‘ story “100% false.” “There was no fraud or tax evasion by anyone,” [Harder said in a statement](https://int.nyt.com/data/documenthelper/353-trump-inheritance-taxes-statement/2986a100d3d19a917cdc/optimized/full.pdf#page=1?action=click&module=Intentional&pgtype=Article "undefined"). “The facts upon which the Times bases its false allegations are extremely inaccurate. All estate matters were handled by licensed attorneys, licensed CPAs and licensed real estate appraisers who followed all laws and rules strictly. All matters were filed with the IRS and New York taxing authorities. The returns and tax positions that the Times now attacks were examined in real time by the relevant taxing authorities. President Trump criticized the report on Wednesday morning on twitter, calling the story “a very old, boring and often told hit piece.” > [](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1047469711938736128) The 15,000-word _Times_ report details years of “tax schemes, including instances of outright fraud that greatly increased the fortune (Trump) received from his parents.” The story claims that Trump and his siblings helped set up sham corporations to disguise millions of dollars in gifts from their parents and that Trump helped formulate a plan to undervalue his parents real estate holdings by hundreds of millions of dollars. All in all, the report concluded, Fred and Mary Trump transferred over $1 billion of wealth to their children, which should have produced a $550 million tax bill under the 55% tax rate. But, the report says, the Trumps only paid a total of $52.2 million, which is only 5%. The _Times_ said Trump is not likely to be criminally prosecuted for the reported tax evasion because of the statute of limitations but that there is no time limit on civil fines or tax fraud. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5413841/new-york-state-tax-trump/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5413841/new-york-state-tax-trump/"},"headline":"The New York State Tax Department Is Reviewing Fraud Allegations Involving the Trump Family","datePublished":"2018-10-03T15:17:30.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:37:27.019Z","description":"The news comes after a New York Times investigation into the family's finances","url":"https://time.com/5413841/new-york-state-tax-trump/","keywords":["Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt31e8c69e08ad4647/6988ac3c656a3fa632bcda78/donald-trump-2016-election-biography-photos-07.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Gina Martinez","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/gina-martinez/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt31e8c69e08ad4647/6988ac3c656a3fa632bcda78/donald-trump-2016-election-biography-photos-07.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"trump","caption":"trump","creditText":"Barton Silverman—The New York Times","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5413841/new-york-state-tax-trump/","name":"The New York State Tax Department Is Reviewing Fraud Allegations Involving the Trump Family"}}]}] ```