For years, conservative billionaires have treated Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas to opulent vacations and trips on their private jets. If these were anything other than disinterested gifts, then they’re taxable — and Thomas owes the IRS a huge bill.

For years, conservative billionaires have treated Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas to opulent vacations and trips on their private jets. If these were anything other than disinterested gifts, then they’re taxable — and Thomas owes the IRS a huge bill.

When Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas flouted longstanding ethics laws by refusing to disclose billionaire gifts, he avoided public outrage for years. Based on new revelations about the potential motivations behind those gifts, he also may have avoided laws requiring Americans to pay taxes on such donations, legal experts say.

Recent reporting from ProPublica revealed that Thomas was showered with luxury gifts from wealthy benefactors, including vacations, private flights, school tuition, and even a loan for a high-end RV. Though Thomas has insisted the gifts were just the innocent generosity of friends, many came after he threatened to resign over the justices’ low salaries — and one of Thomas’s vacation companions said the money was given to supplement the justice’s “limited salary.”

According to experts, if these benefits were given to Thomas as a way to buttress his regular pay and keep him on the court, they could be considered a taxable transaction rather than a gift. By refusing to publicly disclose such transactions, Thomas made it impossible for watchdog groups to alert tax-enforcement officials about the potential issue in real time.

    • LufyCZ@lemmy.world
      58·
      10 months ago

      I’d be careful with things like this.

      If not anything else, it makes you not much better than the republicans calling for the death of “election riggers” and the lot.

      Be better.

      • Sanctus@lemmy.worldEnglish
        3·
        10 months ago

        Hercules did not throw away the Nemean Lion, and we should not either. We need this anger. It is the energy source of a movement for something better. There will always be stray calls of violence and badly pointed half-jokes. But never call for someone to quell the spark that transforms the world around you. That spark always starts with something thats not right and a fiery will that seeks to change it. We are not like the Maggats chanting for death. Good is less subjective in this context than nuance would have you believe.