Donald Trump’s principal Scottish golfing business recorded a loss of more than £1 million during 2015, meaning that it paid no tax.
Giant sand dunes, stunning views, challenging golf today at @TrumpScotland @luxuryscotland #Golf #ScotlandGolf 5-mile walk you won't forget. pic.twitter.com/6JZClBWMv1
— David R. Holland (@David_R_Holland) September 28, 2016
According to accounts just published by the Republican presidential candidate and seen by Heat Street, Trump International Golf Club Scotland Limited had a turnover of just over £3 million but clocked up a total loss of £1,096,108 for the year.
It made a similar loss in 2014, though overall revenues for 2015 were up by 7.4 per cent.
The business, based near Aberdeen, comprises a pay per play championship golf course; hotel; shop; bar and restaurant.
It employs 95 people but is strongly suspected of being little more than a vanity project for the property tycoon, who is its president and chairman. Three of its directors are Trump’s children – Donald Jr, Eric and Ivanka.
Phenomenal visit @TrumpScotland – one of the world's most spectacular courses. Hard to believe it's only 4 yrs old pic.twitter.com/ZhwPAvL1ME
— Golf World (@GolfWorld1) September 21, 2016
Trump bought the Menie estate, which lies on the east coast of Scotland in an area of great natural beauty overlooking the North Sea, for £7 million in 2006. His self-declared goal, unsurprisingly, was to create “the greatest golf course in the world”.
Even though some of the estate had been designated a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) because of its unusually shifting sand dunes, the bulldozers eventually moved in to create the 18-hole course anyway.
After a protracted planning battle and run-ins with those living nearby in the village of Balmedie – some of which were documented in the 2011 film You’ve Been Trumped – the course opened in 2012.
Since then it has made a cumulative loss of £9.7 million, according to the accounts, and has been funded by directors’ loans totalling £39,406,027.
On Sunday he acknowledged for the first time that he used a $916 million loss that he reported on his 1995 US income tax returns to avoid paying personal federal income taxes for years.
