Elon Musk Could Get a Huge Tax Break From Donald Trump

A provision in the tax code allows government officials to defer all capital gains taxes on such divestment.

The tax break could be worth tens of billions of dollars to Musk if he is appointed by Trump to a top government post.

Trump has said Musk will be his new “secretary of cost-cutting” and Musk has said he “can’t wait” to work in a Trump White House .

Musk ’s companies were awarded $3 billion across nearly 100 different contracts last year .

His companies account for at least $15.4 billion in government funding in the past decade .

Trump could grant Musk a waiver exempting him from the ethics rule, allowing him to keep his business dealings even while he works for the government.

The tax break was created in 1989 as a way to “minimize the burden” for public servants who were forced to sell off property or investments that posed a conflict of interest with their work.

The Office of Government Ethics can, for any executive branch employee, issue a “certificate of divestiture” when they sell off conflicting business interests.

There's no limit on how large the tax break can be, meaning it can be used to avoid paying taxes on millions of dollars in assets.