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Opinion The case of Clarence Thomas's motor home gets curiouser and curiouser
Thomas has probably committed tax fraud by not reporting the forgiveness of debt. This matter is NOT going to go away
Link to tweet
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/10/26/clarence-thomas-rv-motor-home-taxes/
Is Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas a tax cheat? His lawyer insists not. The available evidence suggests this is a fair question.
“The loan was never forgiven,” attorney Elliot Berke said in a statement about a $267,000 loan from Thomas’s friend Anthony Welters that enabled the justice and his wife to buy a luxury motor home. “Any suggestion to the contrary is false. The Thomases made all payments to Mr. Welters on a regular basis until the terms of the agreement were satisfied in full.”....
Most significant, there seems to be no record that the Thomases ever repaid any of the loan principal. “Welters’ note indicates that after Thomas’s upcoming payment, Welters would no longer seek further payments from Justice Thomas on the loan because, according to Welters’ note, Welters believed that Thomas had paid interest greater than the purchase price of the bus, and that Welters did not feel it was appropriate to continue to accept payments even though he had the right to them,” the report states. Even then, the math doesn’t quite add up: The interest payments wouldn’t have exceeded the purchase price.
Here’s where taxes enter the equation: If the loan was forgiven, that would be, in IRS-speak, a “taxable event.” The forgiven amount would constitute income to the Thomases, and they would then owe taxes on it. Did he?....
A man entrusted with interpreting the nation’s tax laws should be capable of following them, and we are entitled to know whether he has complied with that duty.
“The loan was never forgiven,” attorney Elliot Berke said in a statement about a $267,000 loan from Thomas’s friend Anthony Welters that enabled the justice and his wife to buy a luxury motor home. “Any suggestion to the contrary is false. The Thomases made all payments to Mr. Welters on a regular basis until the terms of the agreement were satisfied in full.”....
Most significant, there seems to be no record that the Thomases ever repaid any of the loan principal. “Welters’ note indicates that after Thomas’s upcoming payment, Welters would no longer seek further payments from Justice Thomas on the loan because, according to Welters’ note, Welters believed that Thomas had paid interest greater than the purchase price of the bus, and that Welters did not feel it was appropriate to continue to accept payments even though he had the right to them,” the report states. Even then, the math doesn’t quite add up: The interest payments wouldn’t have exceeded the purchase price.
Here’s where taxes enter the equation: If the loan was forgiven, that would be, in IRS-speak, a “taxable event.” The forgiven amount would constitute income to the Thomases, and they would then owe taxes on it. Did he?....
A man entrusted with interpreting the nation’s tax laws should be capable of following them, and we are entitled to know whether he has complied with that duty.
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