Trump’s Scottish golf courses in the rough over accounts deadline
DONALD TRUMP’S three Scottish golf courses have been given more time to file accounts after missing the statutory deadline, as the former US president battles a scandal engulfing his American tax returns.
Trump International Golf Club Ltd, SLC Turnberry Ltd, and Golf Recreation Scotland Ltd all had a Dec 31 deadline, says Companies House. Mr Trump’s Scottish golf courses insisted that the UK officials had granted the businesses extra time to file.
“A standard extension was granted for the submission of our 2021 company accounts,” said a spokesman.
Mr Trump’s golf interests include Turnberry on the east coast in Ayrshire and the Trump International in Aberdeenshire. Turnberry, whose history can be traced back more than a century, is regularly used for The Open Championships and boasts a five-star hotel and spa. Mr Trump bought the hotel and golf courses in 2014 for $60m (£49m).
Trump International was built from scratch after he bought a 1,400-acre plot in 2006 with plans to build “the world’s best golf course”.
Two of his sons, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, are directors of Trump International and SLC Turnberry. Eric is the sole director of Golf Recreation Scotland. Late filing of accounts incurs an automatic fine of £150 under UK company law. This increases to £375 for delays of one to three months, £750 for between three and six months, and £1,500 for more than six months.
The Government website states that failing to file accounts on time “is a criminal offence”. It adds: “Directors or LLP designated members could be personally fined in the criminal courts.”
Dan Neidle, founder of advisory group Tax Policy Associates, said that although the automatic £150 fine was modest, it was more than Mr Trump paid in federal tax in the US during 2020.
Mr Trump is battling a growing furore over his tax affairs, after a House of Representatives committee voted to make six years of returns open to the public. The US filings revealed that Mr Trump and his wife Melania paid $641,931 in federal income taxes in 2015, $750 in 2016 and 2017, nearly $1m in 2018, $133,445 in 2019, and $0 in 2020.
The Trumps reported that they had a Chinese bank account between 2015 and 2017 – despite Mr Trump arguing during the 2020 presidential election that the account “was closed in 2015”.