Haircare is a priority for Donald Trump, so much so that The New York Times’s exposé found out the former president spent more than $70,000 on hairstyling during several years of his run on The Apprentice, his reality TV stint in 2004. The story also covered his tax information, which revealed he paid zero federal income tax for years.
Healthy hair, don’t care.’ The Republican candidate’s expenses to groom his silky mane are more than required for one person, even if it includes haircuts, blow-dries, and coloring. But, according to the tax analysis report, his production company deducted his hairstyling expenses from its taxable income, reported The New York Times.
Experts questioned this by mentioning that haircare falls under personal expenses, and deducting it from the tax income is strictly prohibited under any circumstance. They further clarified that such an act could be a potential criminal tax fraud if the hairstyling expense is reimbursed.
The hair-raising tax revelations that were finally made public bring the makers of the reality show under the microscope. The $70,000 was followed by an additional $95,000 paid to a hair and makeup artist favored by his daughter Ivanka Trump. According to the NBC executives, an amount as large as this for someone of stature as Trump is primarily paid by the show.
“I can’t think of any circumstances in which Trump would have paid those costs out of his own pocket and not be reimbursed,” one of the three NBC executives said. The official agreed to speak up on the condition of anonymity as they were still employed with NBC and Mark Burnett, the producer of The Apprentice.
