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This article claims that burying Ivana Trump on a Bedminster golf course eliminates property, income and sales tax.

Trump is accused of burying Ivana at his Bedminster golf club to take advantage of TAX BREAK offered to cemeteries: Move eliminates property, income AND sales tax under NJ tax code

from: Daily Mail

Is this true?

Laurel
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Christian
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    The linked page says ***solely devoted** to or held for that purpose shall be exempt from taxation*. So it's no longer a golf course or mulch producer? – Weather Vane Aug 01 '22 at 09:59
  • https://www.businessinsider.com/ivana-trump-gravesite-trump-national-golf-club-tax-break-2022-7 – Daniel R Hicks Aug 01 '22 at 12:50
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    As of now it is impossible to know if he has or will save on his taxes from this action as it will depend on his actions when he next files/pays for taxes on that property. – Joe W Aug 01 '22 at 17:20
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    In the USA you can bury people in golf courses? ! ? – RedSonja Aug 02 '22 at 07:58
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    I flagged this question as a question about an unresolved current event, because it can't be answered until Trump actually files his taxes. – Philipp Aug 02 '22 at 10:47
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    @RedSonja If the premise of the question is correct, then the actual question would be if you can play golf on a cemetery in the USA. – Philipp Aug 02 '22 at 10:50
  • What kind a classification allows tax exemption? Classifying the area as a cemetery or as a religious site? To be honest I don't know if it was a secular or religious burial, but I though that tax exemptions applied to churches and annexed land. – FluidCode Aug 02 '22 at 16:17
  • Regardless of the claim, that's a rather sad looking (i.e. modest) grave in a family of billionaires. The article might as well have claimed the Trumps switched to wahhabism (which only permits ground-level graves). – Fizz Aug 02 '22 at 21:47
  • Of course it's entirely possible those were Ivana's wishes (where and how to be buried). Apparently the real angle there is that they plan a cemetery for the rich, with plots to be sold at $300,000 a piece, for being buried next to some of Trump's' family. If true/realized, that would far exceed savings from taxes. – Fizz Aug 02 '22 at 22:00
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    The picture in the linked article shows a footstone. There is no headstone, but those tend to take some time to finish up. I would assume the bigger tax break would be the classification of the property as a farm. The "family cemetery" appears to have been approved in 2015, so not sure why it's such a big deal now, other than for political propaganda from the Democrats. – Bardicer Aug 02 '22 at 22:27
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    Common sense: If you could save lots of money by burying someone on a golf course, then there would be a grave in every golf course in the USA. – gnasher729 Aug 04 '22 at 09:21
  • @gnasher729 … and I can easily picture very many golf fanatics insisting they be buried not only on a golf course but at a specific location of a specific gold course. – ZeroTheHero Aug 04 '22 at 23:28

1 Answers1

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This does not appear to be true, because it cannot generate any useful tax break for Trump or his properties.

New Jersey Code (Section 45:27-7) specifies that a cemetery company must be organized as a nonprofit corporation; any profit generated by the business must be used in furtherance of its purpose, not distributed to owners.

So even if Trump could somehow get all or part of his golf course classified as a cemetery, the tax savings would apply only to the nonprofit corporation and could not be returned to Trump's businesses or personal finances.

Robert
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    I think the real answer is more complicated because section 45:27-2 says " “Cemetery company” means a person that owns, manages, operates or controls a cemetery, directly or indirectly, but does not include a religious organization that owns a cemetery which restricts burials to members of that religion or their families unless the organization has obtained a certificate of authority for the cemetery." – DavePhD Aug 03 '22 at 11:47
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    Ah, but Trump is the CEO of the cemetery company!! – Daniel R Hicks Aug 03 '22 at 12:34
  • @DavePhD Can you elaborate on how that changes the situation? Whether the cemetery company is an individual or a religion or a corporation, it is the only entity that gets a tax break and it must be a nonprofit. – Robert Aug 03 '22 at 21:19
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    @Robert Firstly, it doesn't have to be a non-profit, in fact 45:27-7.1 is about being for-profit. Secondly, 45:27-20 is the subsection that explains the tax breaks. One of the tax breaks is: " Land dedicated to cemetery purposes owned by any person shall be exempt from all taxes, rates or assessments." So it is very clear that there is no property on cemetery land, regardless of who owns it. – DavePhD Aug 04 '22 at 02:36
  • @DavePhD I don't think 45:27-7.1 is relevant; it is talking about for-profit entities providing management services - ie. a cemetery company would hire them. They wouldn't own the cemetery or be a "cemetery company", so no tax breaks for them. – Robert Aug 04 '22 at 20:24
  • @DavePhD I don't think the tax exemption in 45:27-20b matters here because 45:27-6 says only a government, religion, or nonprofit cemetery company can be the owner. There may be some wiggle room due to the difference between "a cemetery" and "land dedicated to cemetery purposes" though, I don't know. – Robert Aug 04 '22 at 20:28