The Trumptini, a twist on the classic martini served with flakes of gold and a T-shaped slice of lemon, and 100-odd other Trump trademarks including simply “Donald Trump” are now owned by a company in Delaware – allowing the US presidential candidate to save a fortune in taxes.
Filings at the US Patent and Trademark Office show that the ownership of Trump trademarks have been moved from various states to DTTM Operations LLC, a recently incorporated company registered alongside thousands of others at National Registered Agents office in Dover, Delaware.
Shifting his portfolio of trademarks, also including “Trump Tower” and “Trump National Golf Club”, to Delaware will help Trump in his mission to “pay as little tax as possible”.
The presumptive Republican nominee for president is exploiting the so-called “Delaware loophole”. It allows him to legally avoid paying taxes on royalty fees for use of his trademarks in every other state. It is unclear how much tax Trump will save from the move, but his financial disclosure form states that Trump “deals, brand and branded developments” are worth $3bn.
Trump is not alone in exploiting the Delaware loophole, which is used by most of America’s biggest companies including Apple, Coca-Cola and Walmart. The tax regime is said to have cost other states more than $9bn in lost taxes over the past decade and led to Delaware being described as “one of the world’s biggest havens for tax avoidance and evasion”.
Trump already significantly exploits Delaware’s business-friendly tax code with 378 of his 515 companies, including New York City landmarks such as the Trump Carousel in Central Park, and 40 Wall Street Corporation, his 72-storey downtown tower, registered in the state.
Trump’s office did not respond to requests for comment about the shifting of this trademarks. Alan Garten, executive vice-president and general counsel of the Trump Organization, told Bloomberg, which first reported the news: “I can’t get into that; it’s confidential … It’s sort of too complicated to explain.”
