First, and I mean no offense to say this: consider the source.As a tax researcher, I was skeptical of rumors Trump buried his ex-wife in that sad little plot of dirt on his Bedminster, NJ golf course just for tax breaks.
— Brooke Harrington (@EBHarrington) July 31, 2022
So I checked the NJ tax code & folks...it's a trifecta of tax avoidance. Property, income & sales tax, all eliminated. pic.twitter.com/VDZBlDyuhQ
The first thing you learn as a lawyer is that the plain language of a statute is not the last word; it’s only the first one. “Change the facts, change the outcome.” Case law decides what the words of the statute means and how they apply. Does Trump have a cemetery plus golf course, with all the tax benefits New Jersey law allows? I have no idea. Do I think so anyway? No. Because it’s complicated.I'm a sociology professor who's spent the past 15 yrs dedicated to research on how the world's wealthiest people avoid tax & any law they find inconvenient, mostly via the offshore financial system ("tax havens"). To do that, I first trained for 2 yrs to become a wealth manager. pic.twitter.com/Ep3OgA4LTS
— Brooke Harrington (@EBHarrington) July 31, 2022
Did he file the correct paperwork to have his golf course become a cemetery? Again: I have no idea. I’m pretty sure New Jersey public health law wouldn’t allow a burial near a golf course just because someone owned that property."According to plans filed with local and state authorities, the Trump Organization has proposed to build a pair of graveyards at the site of its tony Trump National Golf Club Bedminster course."https://t.co/9KtDJWjiQ3
— George Conway🌻 (@gtconway3d) July 31, 2022
— Pr🇺🇦sid🇺🇦nts Are Not Kings & TFG Is A Los🇷🇺r (@OK_Dumbass) July 31, 2022That doesn’t necessarily convert all contiguous property (the golf course) into a cemetery. Indeed, Trump’s tweet indicates he got permission to use only a very limited area for burial (sorry, Tiffany). Doesn’t sound like he converted Bedminster into Deadminster. But does that mean he stopped there? Well, we don’t know, do we?
Yeah, most of the conversation is putting the cart before the horse. Ivanka is buried there because it was already a cemetery; it didn’t become one when the grave was opened.Burying one person there makes it become a dedicated cemetery property?
— Ski the Madman, Pro-choice, Anti-fascist (@SeveralMadmen) July 31, 2022
Isn't that like saying that wherever I park my car becomes a parking lot?
More likely than not, but I don’t know New Jersey law; by which I mean statutes and case law. Trump’s tweet supports that, so I’m going to assume Trump didn’t remove Deadminster from the tax rolls when Ivanka died. I don’t see the state allowing only 10 burial sites and then declaring all contiguous property a cemetery, just without graves or crypts or columbariums.It has to be just that section. The law says the primary purpose of the land must be for a cemetery which would certainly exclude the golf course.
— David C. (@drumboston) July 31, 2022
Unless Trump’s tweet is just bullshit, New Jersey law probably provides for a state agency to promulgate regulations pursuant to statutes regarding establishing and operating cemeteries. That could be how Trump was restricted to 10 plots. Or it could be something else entirely; other statutes, case law, even state constitutional provisions.Full text of NJ tax code for land used for human burial.
— Brooke Harrington (@EBHarrington) July 31, 2022
No stipulation regarding a minimum # of human remains necessary for the tax breaks to kick in--looks like one corpse will suffice to make at least 3 forms of tax vanish. @alexcobham @RichardJMurphyhttps://t.co/WOHuuJhFmk
Reminds me of the story of Virgil doing something like that by burying a pet fly at his farm, or something. With great expense and ceremony, I recall reading.
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