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  1. Taxes
  2. Tax Relief

Here's Why Anthony Scaramucci Now Faces a $7.5 Million Tax Hit

By: Brad Tuttle
Brad Tuttle, expert in Personal finance, shopping, consumer trends, and Senior Editor at Money
Brad Tuttle
Senior Editor | Joined January 2014
Brad Tuttle is a senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.
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Published: Aug 03, 2017 3 min read
President Donald Trump
Anthony Scaramucci served as White House communications director for less than two weeks.
The Washington Post—The Washington Post/Getty Images

It's been a rough couple of weeks for the Mooch.

In a whirlwind affair lasting less than a dozen days, Anthony "the Mooch" Scaramucci landed a job as White House communication director, got served with divorce papers from his wife, missed the birth of his son, went on a profanity-laced rant about rival Trump administration colleagues to The New Yorker, and got fired.

Now it looks like his quick ouster from the White House will result in Scaramucci paying millions in taxes that he could have deferred if he still had the job.

In order to take the job in the Trump administration and avoid a conflict of interest, Scaramucci had to sell his stake in Skybridge Capital, the hedge fund he founded. Normally, as USA Today reported, federal employees receive a "certificate of divestiture" when selling assets like Scaramucci is doing, allowing them to defer paying capital gains taxes. But apparently, Scaramuccui's hiring and resignation occurred so quickly that he never received the certificate granting special tax treatment.

Elliot Berke, a lawyer representing Scaramucci, told CNN that his client will pay capital gains taxes at the normal rate of 15% on the Skybridge Capital sale when the deal is finalized. Scaramucci owns a nearly 44% stake in the firm, which has an estimated value of over $200 million.

Scaramucci should receive between $50 million and $80 million on the sale, and now that he can't defer paying capital gains, he'll be taxed at 15%. The bottom line is that it looks like the Mooch will have to pay at least $7.5 million, and perhaps as much as $12 million, in taxes that he could have put off if he was still employed by the White House.

That's a pretty steep price to pay for a job that lasted 11 days.