Arison matriarch takes $2M loss on condo sales

Marylin Arison, mother of Carnival Corp. chairman Micky Arison and matriarch of Miami’s wealthiest family, has taken a $2 million loss on the sale of four luxury Bal Harbour condo units. However, the deal appears to be a transfer to a closely held trust for tax purposes.

According to public records spotted by the Daily Business Review, Arison sold her units at the Bal Harbour Tower condo, located at 9999 Collins Avenue, for $7.38 million. She purchased those units for a combined $9.27 million from 2007 to 2010.

The sale was made to four land trusts controlled by trustee Richard Kohan — a managing member of Coral Gables-based tax specialist firm AFO LLC. Kohan is also a large Carnival shareholder, according to the Business Review.

And it looks as though the deal was intended to exploit a tax loophole.

The sales were made as four transactions to four different trusts, which subjected them to a 0.6 percent Miami-Dade County tax on residential property transfers. However, if the sales had been on one deed, they would have been hit with an extra 0.45 percent county surtax on commercial transactions.

“As an attorney, you do a balancing act with deeds, but you’re not supposed to do anything to evade the tax,” said Eric Jacobs, a real estate attorney with Beloff Parker Jacobs and chief operating officer of Clear Title Group who is not involved in the Arison transactions. [Daily Business Review] – Christopher Cameron