Former President Donald Trump has been accused of burying his recently deceased first wife Ivana Trump on one of his golf courses to receive a large income tax break on the property.
The issue was brought up by Brooke Harrington, a sociology professor at Dartmouth University, who noted that the strange move could possibly help classify the high-end golf course as a cemetery.
Harrington, who researches taxes, posted on social media, “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. So I checked the NJ tax code & folks…it’s a trifecta of tax avoidance. Property, income & sales tax, all eliminated.”
According to their research, New Jersey has no minimum for the number of bodies that need to be buried on a property to classify it as a cemetery. Once its received the classification, the owners of said property will no longer have to pay property, income, or even sales tax on 10 acres of the plot going forward.
Harrington said in a later Tweet that the burying Ivana there would also benefit future generations of Trumps, adding, “Business and inheritance taxes are exempt, too. Also, cemetery property is exempt from sale for collection of judgments.”
The NJ law being cited reads: “Graveyards and burial grounds used or intended to be used for the interment of bodies of the dead or the ashes thereof not exceeding ten acres of ground, and cemeteries and buildings for cemetery use erected thereon, and all mausoleums, vaults, crypts or structures intended to hold or contain the bodies of the dead or the ashes thereof, and solely devoted to or held for that purpose shall be exempt from taxation under this chapter.”
While unproven, the accusations by the professor do help answer why Donald Trump would bury his first wife, who he divorced in 1992 after having an affair with actress Marla Maples, on his luxury golf course.
Ivana died last month after falling down a flight of stairs at her Town House in New York City. Her funeral was held in Manhattan on July 20th, which the entire Trump family attended, before her body was flown to Bedminster, New Jersey to be buried.
President Donald Trump, 76, has also noted that he too wishes to be buried at the property upon his passing, with his company filing a statement in 2017 reading, “Mr. Trump… specifically chose this property for his final resting place as it is his favorite property.”
Donald and Ivanka Trump shared 3 children together and remained close into their old age, with the two often speaking on private matters and her remaining one of his closest confidants and advisors until the end. Do you think he would bury his former wife there just to get a tax break or do you think he still had some genuine love for her and simply wished to be buried near his first true love for eternity?
