This is how the wealth elite avoid taxes...

Main Loopholes Allowing the Ultra-Wealthy to Evade or Minimize Taxes

The ultra-wealthy use a combination of legal loopholes, aggressive tax planning, and sometimes unlawful evasion to dramatically reduce their tax bills. The main strategies include:

1. Buy, Borrow, Die Strategy

The wealthy accumulate assets (such as stocks or real estate) that appreciate in value but are not taxed until sold. Instead of selling, they borrow against these assets to fund their lifestyles, paying little or no tax on the borrowed money. When they die, the assets often receive a “step-up” in basis, erasing the capital gains for their heirs57.

2. Preferential Tax Treatment for Investment Income

Most investment income (capital gains, dividends) is taxed at lower rates than regular income. The ultra-wealthy structure their finances to maximize these lower-taxed income streams, reducing their overall effective tax rate52.

3. Use of Trusts and Estate Planning

Trusts are used to minimize estate and inheritance taxes, move wealth between generations, and sometimes obscure ownership. By placing assets in trusts, the wealthy can reduce or avoid taxes that would otherwise apply upon transfer or death67.

4. Charitable Giving and Overvaluation

Donating appreciated assets (like art or land) to charity can yield large tax deductions. Sometimes, the value of these assets is inflated, resulting in outsized write-offs. Syndicated conservation easements, where land value is massively overstated for tax breaks, have been a notable abuse7.

5. Offshore Accounts and Complex Partnerships

Wealthy individuals often use offshore accounts, shell companies, and complex partnership structures to obscure income, shift profits to low-tax jurisdictions, and make auditing more difficult for tax authorities74.

6. Tax-Sheltered Investment Accounts

Using tax-advantaged accounts (like certain retirement plans or private placement life insurance) allows the wealthy to defer or avoid taxes on investment growth27.

7. Aggressive Legal Disputes and Audit Resistance

The ultra-wealthy can afford teams of lawyers and accountants to challenge IRS audits, exploit ambiguities in tax law, and delay or negotiate settlements, making enforcement costly and less effective71.

8. Undermining Tax Enforcement

Efforts to cut IRS funding and staff reduce the agency’s ability to audit complex, high-value returns, further enabling tax avoidance and evasion among the rich14.

“The richest 1% are already responsible for nearly 30% of all unpaid taxes... By seeking to gut the IRS, President Trump and Elon Musk would make it harder to fight poverty but even easier for the very richest taxpayers to avoid paying what they owe.”1

Summary Table

Loophole/Strategy	Description
Buy, Borrow, Die	Borrow against appreciated assets, avoid selling, erase gains at death
Lower Tax Rates on Investments	Capital gains/dividends taxed less than wages
Trusts & Estate Planning	Use of trusts to minimize inheritance/estate taxes
Charitable Overvaluation	Inflating value of donations for larger deductions
Offshore Accounts/Partnerships	Hide/shield income using complex structures
Tax-Sheltered Accounts	Defer/avoid taxes via retirement or insurance vehicles
Audit Resistance	Legal teams dispute audits, exploit complexity
IRS Undermining	Lobbying for IRS budget cuts to reduce enforcement

These loopholes, combined with aggressive legal tactics and under-resourced enforcement, allow the ultra-wealthy to pay far less—sometimes a single-digit effective tax rate—than would be expected under the spirit of the law5 71.

Citations:

Answer from Perplexity: pplx.ai/share

Deutsche Bank continued to lend to Donald Trump despite his six bankruptcies for several interconnected reasons:

High Net Worth and Collateral: Deutsche Bank’s private wealth management division, which caters to wealthy individuals, considered Trump’s substantial real estate holdings and his status as a high-net-worth client. The loans were often secured by the underlying properties, such as the Doral golf resort and hotels in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Even when Trump purchased properties for less than the loan amount, the bank accepted the land and buildings as primary collateral1 2 78.
Flexible Risk Tolerance: The bank’s private wealth unit was more flexible and willing to take risks compared to its commercial real estate division. After Trump defaulted on a $640 million loan and sued the bank, the commercial unit stopped lending to him. However, the private wealth division stepped in, motivated by the potential for lucrative business relationships with high-profile clients like Trump1 56.
Relationship Banking: Deutsche Bank sought to grow its relationships with wealthy clients, sometimes prioritizing the “broader relationship” over strict adherence to traditional risk metrics. The bank adjusted Trump’s self-reported net worth downward during its own due diligence but still proceeded with the loans, accepting that such financial statements are often “subjective or subject to estimates”67.
Trump’s Celebrity and Business Draw: Trump’s celebrity and the publicity surrounding his projects made him an attractive client for Deutsche Bank, which was seeking to expand its U.S. presence and client base. The association with Trump helped the bank attract other wealthy clients, creating a symbiotic relationship4.
Alleged Misrepresentations: Investigations and lawsuits have since alleged that Trump exaggerated his net worth and property values to secure more favorable loan terms. Deutsche Bank, according to testimony and legal filings, sometimes accepted these representations or adjusted them internally, but did not always require audited statements or take further action at the time5 67.

In summary, Deutsche Bank saw Trump as a potentially profitable, high-profile client whose loans were backed by real assets, and its private wealth division was willing to accept the risks and reputational issues that other banks avoided—even after his repeated bankruptcies and defaults1 45.

Citations:

Answer from Perplexity: pplx.ai/share

Based on the most recent and credible information, none of Deutsche Bank’s major institutional investors are publicly tied to Russia.

BlackRock Fund Advisors, Capital Research & Management, Vanguard Fiduciary Trust, and Norges Bank are all Western-based investment firms or sovereign wealth funds with no Russian ownership or control. Norges Bank (which manages Norway’s sovereign wealth fund) has actively divested from Russian assets following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and is under strict Norwegian government orders to exit all Russian holdings7 1012.
Hamad Al-Thani is the Emir of Qatar. While Qatar maintains diplomatic and economic relations with Russia, there is no evidence that the Qatari royal family or its investment arms are controlled by or act on behalf of Russian interests. Qatar’s recent diplomatic interactions with Russia are focused on regional geopolitics, not financial entanglement or ownership6 9 1113.

Deutsche Bank itself has substantially reduced its Russian exposure since 2014 and is in the process of winding down its remaining business in Russia, with no new business being conducted there1 34. The bank’s own statements emphasize that its direct and indirect Russian exposure is now “very limited and tightly managed”13.

In summary:
There is no public evidence that any of Deutsche Bank’s top investors are tied to Russia, nor that Russian entities hold a significant ownership stake in the bank.

Citations:

Answer from Perplexity: pplx.ai/share

Deutsche Bank is a publicly traded company with no single majority owner. Its ownership is spread among numerous institutional investors and shareholders. As of April 2025, the largest known shareholders are:

BlackRock Fund Advisors: 6.7%
Hamad Al-Thani: 4.8%
Capital Research & Management Co. (International Investors): 4.5%
Vanguard Fiduciary Trust Co.: 4.1%
Norges Bank: 2.3%

The remaining shares are widely held by other institutional investors, individuals, and the public, with no single entity exercising control over the bank1 46.

Citations:

Answer from Perplexity: pplx.ai/share

Donald Trump currently owes the most money to Deutsche Bank. As of the most recent available disclosures, Trump had at least six loans totaling about $479 million coming due over several years, with Deutsche Bank being his largest single creditor. These loans are tied to major properties such as the Doral golf resort, his Washington, DC hotel, and the Chicago hotel and tower6. While Trump also has significant loans from Ladder Capital, the largest portion of his debt is with Deutsche Bank6.

Citations:

Answer from Perplexity: pplx.ai/share

Search This Blog

The Truth is out there, Really!