This Issue: Jump Start Your Success in the Coming Tax Year

Since September 11, 2001, the Trump Organization has always had an annual memorial of some sort. The first year, we forfeited our annual Trump Organization Christmas party in order to give the funds that would normally be used for that event to charity. All of us felt it was the right thing to do, and it was. Since then, we have had a memorial in the lobby and atrium of Trump Tower each year, and I attend as do other members of the Trump Organization.

In 2006 and 2007, we had the September Concert perform at Trump Tower on 9/11, and it was open to the public. The September Concert was founded in 2002 on the first anniversary of 9/11 with the message of peace through music. Haruko Smith, the founder, and Veronica Kelly, the vice chairman, have done an amazing job. My son Eric introduces the concert, and all of us attend. It's a meaningful celebration and a positive response to a day that shouldn't be forgotten.

It takes time for us to help coordinate this event and to make the space available in our very busy building, but it is worth every minute of it. That's just one example of why it pays to never give up in your own quest for success - you'll eventually be in a position to give back.

I host many charity events at my golf courses and have the annual Red Cross Ball at my Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach. These events don't just happen - they require a lot of planning and that means time and effort, not to mention money. Real estate investing is a lot more than just owning properties, it's about making them useful. If you plan to go into real estate just to make money or to feel powerful, that's not enough. If you can see your gains as a way to share, you will find your work will be much more rewarding - and probably more profitable in the long run.

Every year we host the Salvation Army in our lobby to kick off the holiday season. This has become a tradition. A band plays, the media is there, I give a brief speech, and the Salvation Army gets some of the recognition it deserves for the great job they've been doing for so many years. This too takes a lot of time to arrange, but we do it every year.

Sometimes being a giver will open you up to new talents. Each year I donate an autographed doodle to the Doodle for Hunger auction at Tavern on the Green. It's a great event, and contributors have included Sting, Muhammad Ali, Larry King, Al Pacino, Billy Joel, Valentino, Bill Cosby, Paul McCartney, Kirk Douglas, Martina Navratilova, Peter Max, Bette Midler, Jack Nicklaus, Cindy Crawford, and many other distinguished people. It takes me a few minutes to draw something, in my case, it's usually a building or a cityscape of skyscrapers, and then sign my name, but it raises thousands of dollars to help the hungry in New York through the Capuchin Food Pantries Ministry. The auction was an innovative idea that has helped many people, and I don't mind spending a little time for a very good cause. Art may not be my strong point, but the end result is help for people who need it.

I can remember a friend who asked me why I had so many charity events at my properties. He seemed perplexed that I would do this, because it wasn't really necessary, and he knew how much time it required. I said to him, "Because I can."

Believe me, those are powerful words, with an equally powerful feeling to go along with them. Imagine saying that to someone yourself -- "Because I can!" It's a great feeling, and it makes all the work that went into acquiring and developing those beautiful properties and buildings worth it.

We've all seen bad situations that we'd like to be able to help. Being successful allows you to help in a big way. That's another reason to keep at it. Knowing you're going to be able to give back more if you succeed is a wonderful incentive to keep going. If you never give up, you'll be able to give back - and that's something to remember.

This article is adapted from the new bestselling book Trump: Never Give Up, published by John Wiley & Son.

I’m known as Trump University’s resident expert on asset protection. Why then am I contributing an article this week about tax deductions?

 Simple answer. Tax deductions are asset protection. The more you can deduct, the more assets you are protecting from loss.

You already knew that, of course. But you might not know that if you incorporate, you may be entitled to a lot more deductions than you are as a tax-paying individual.  Talk this advice over with your tax advisor. But when you do, you might learn that you are allowed to deduct 100% of the following expenses:

General Deductible Expenses for Corporations

Advertising expenses . . . auto expenses . . . awards given by your company . . . cleaning expenses . . . depreciation expenses . . . cost of conventions . . . gas and oil expenses . . . insurance expenses . . . legal and professional expenses . . . mailer expenses . . . expenses for meals on company premises . . . all office expenses . . . pension expenses . . . per diem meals . . . per diem lodging . . . postage and freight expenses . . . trade shows and conference expenses . . . tax expenses . . . utilities.

Travel Expenses

All business-related travel expenses . . . baggage charges . . . meals and lodging when traveling . . . auto rentals . . . reasonable cleaning and laundry expenses when traveling . . . telephone, computer and faxing . . . costs of transporting display items . . . costs of conference rooms . . . costs of maintaining and operating a company plane . . . costs of secretarial help . . . tips paid to providers of all services.

Medical Expenses

Accident and health insurance . . . acupuncture . . . adoption expenses . . . alcoholism treatment . . . ambulance costs . . . attendant for blind person . . . Braille books and other specialized aids for the blind . . . childbirth preparation classes . . . chiropractic treatments . . . costs of storing medical records . . . hearing aids . . . dental fees . . . dentures . . . doctor’s fees . . . drug addiction recovery costs . . . drugs and prescriptions . . . eye examination and glasses . . . hair transplants . . . health club memberships prescribed by physicians . . . hospital care . . . laboratory fees . . . prosthetics . . nursing expenses . . . orthopedic shoes . . . psychiatric care . . . psychologists . . . sexual dysfunction treatments . . . sterilization operations . . . travel to doctors’ offices . . . vitamins . . . wheel chairs.

A note from the editor: If you’d like to know about other ways to protect your assets by incorporating, be sure to read the new book, Trump University Asset Protection 101. Since protecting your assets is just as important as building your wealth, you need to know the latest strategies to protect what you have worked so hard to earn.

Take this quiz to assess your knowledge of taxes and find out whether you are maximizing your potential deductions. By giving yourself a business check-up, you can keep more of your hard-earned dollars, rather than giving them unnecessarily  to Uncle Sam.

1. When determining your deductible costs for business use of a car, the standard business mileage rate for passenger automobiles is:

a. $1 per mile

b. .25 per mile

c. .35 per mile

d. .445 per mile

2. For tax year 2007, self-employed people paid Social Security taxes on the first _____________ they earned.

a. $42,500

b. $60,000

c. $72,500

d. $97,500

3. The type of tax-advantaged (tax deductible) pension plan for unincorporated small-business owners is referred to as a:

a. 401(k) plan

b. Roth IRA

c. SEP plan

d. 403(b) plan

4. For self-employed individuals in 2007, what percentage of your health insurance expense was deductible?

a. 25%

b. 45%

c. 50%

d. 100%

5. The highest federal income tax rate applicable to individual taxpayers is:

a. 36%

b. 39.6%

c. 35%

d. 50%

6. The profits of which of the following business entities will not be taxed at the owners’ individual income tax rates?

a. Sole proprietorships

b. Partnerships

c. Corporations (other than S corporations)

d. Limited liability companies

7. In an IRS audit, the best kind of evidence to provide in order to prove your business is:

a. Receipts and canceled checks

b. Computerized records

c. Statements from your accountant

d. Eyewitness testimony

8. All businesses having inventories must use the accrual method of reporting  purchases and sales. (True or False)

9. James, a cash-basis salesperson, received commissions in February of 2007 for sales made during the last quarter of 2006. The commissions should be reported on his 2006 tax return. (True or False)

10. A cash-basis taxpayer may not claim a bad debt deduction unless the amount  to be deducted has previously been included as income. (True or False)

Answers:

1. d--The standard mileage deduction is .445 per mile

2. d--$97,500

3. c--SEP

4. d--100%

5. c--35%

6. c--Corporations other than S corporations

7. a--Receipts and canceled checks

8. True--Businesses with inventories cannot use the cash-basis method of

accounting

9. False--Compensation generally must be reported as income in the year

received

10. True--Cash-basis taxpayers typically cannot take such a deduction because

money is normally not included in income until it is received

Please discuss the advice in this article with your tax advisor before using it on your tax return - your individual situation might have some impact on its applicability to your filing. To download a copy of this quiz from Trump University for your personal use, click here.