In 2012 Donald Trump attended a charity auction for the Komen for the Cure organization at Trump’s palatial Mar-a-Lago Club. More than $1 million was raised from the items auctioned, including 4 tickets to Celine Dion at Mar-A-Lago that were donated by Trump. One item was won by Mr. Trump himself, a Denver Broncos helmet signed by Tim Tebow. After a reported “bidding war,” Trump paid $12,000 for the helmet and can be seen posing with it in the above picture.

The problem is that he paid with other people’s money that was donated to his charity. The Komen organization told The Washington Post that a check was received for the helmet from the Donald J. Trump Foundation, a a non-profit charity that has Donald J. Trump as its president. The Komen organization stated that Donald Trump has never given them a donation in cash.

As of 2012, Donald Trump had not donated any money to his own charity in three years. Let that wash over you: Billionaire Donald Trump bought himself a football helmet for $12,000 with money that other people had donated that was earmarked for charity.

This could be a pretty serious tax violation, called “furnishing of goods.” Basically this rule prohibits a nonprofit foundation from buying goods for the founders. If this happens, the recipient must notify the IRS and pay a tax penalty. The Donald J. Trump Foundation denied any furnishing of goods on its 2012 tax return, according to the Washington Post.

Whether Trump is liable for an IRS penalty really depends on what happened to the helmet. If Trump still has it then he is absolutely liable, and is pretty clearly breaking the rules. If he gave it away to another charity, he would probably be OK. If he sold it or gave it to a friend or family member he would still be violating the furnishing of goods provision.

In the scope of a billionaire’s foundation $12,000 may seem trivial, but that isn’t the point. The point is that billionaire Donald Trump felt that it was proper to use charitable funds donated by other people to purchase a football helmet.

If you would like to use funds from your own charity to purchase an authentic signed Tim Tebow football helmet, you can purchase one HERE for a mere $695.95, or Best Offer.

Sources:
Photo & Article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/07/01/donald-trump-used-money-donated-for-charity-to-buy-himself-a-tim-tebow-signed-football-helmet/
http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/why-donald-trump-buying-12k-of-tebow-gear-could-potentially-be-an-irs-violation/
http://www.palmbeachdailynews.com/news/news/komen-for-the-cure-perfect-pink-party-draws-hundre/nMFRJ/