Clarence Thomas 'gifts' could now land billionaire with hefty tax bill: report
Clarence Thomas’ billionaire friend could be hit with hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxes for the gifts he bestowed on the Supreme Court Justice, a new report stated Friday.
Harlan Crow reportedly took Thomas on pricey vacations and helped pay for the judge’s grandnephew’s boarding school tuition – all without Thomas declaring it, ProPublica reported.
One of those trip was a yacht jaunt around the Indonesian archipelago that ProPublic valued at $500,000.
And now the Daily Beast reported that, on top of the ethics scandal Thomas is embroiled in, Crow could find himself landed with hefty “gift taxes.”
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“That Thomas has made multiple lapses in ethical judgment in not reporting the receipt of such valued largesse from Crow is something for him, SCOTUS, and now Congress to muse over,” the Beast reported.
“But what about Crow’s judgment? Did he file gift tax returns and pay gift taxes on any of the gifts he provided to the Thomas family?
“It is a reasonable question to ask, and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) appears to have formally done so, with a reported due date of a response May 8. In lieu of gift taxes, did Crow expense the value of the trips and tuition provided the Thomases on either personal or business income tax returns? Wyden wants to know.”
The Daily Beast reported that any gifts topping a certain amount need to be taxed. The cap this year is $17,000 and Crow’s reported gifts are worth substantially more than that, the report said.
“The Indonesian junket — valued at over $500,000 by ProPublica — would generate gift taxes of approximately $200,000 for Mr. Crow,” wrote the Daily Beast.
And if he did, instead, declare the payments as business expenses, he would find himself in a different kind of trouble, the Beast reported.
“That’s because Crow has publicly stated he did not discuss any business before the court with Justice Thomas,” the report said.
“If that is true, then it is possible that Crow falsified his income tax returns by expensing the cost of the vacation provided the Thomases.”