New York Occasions, The Tax Break That Might Save Fox Tens of millions in Its Dominion Settlement:

The payout by Rupert Murdoch’s media empire to settle defamation claims by the voting machine firm could also be less expensive than first thought. …

Fox can take a tax deduction from the settlement, Lever Information stories. … It’s unclear how a lot Fox will save, although a spokesman confirmed that tax deductibility is at play. Lever Information estimated that the corporate might reap as a lot as $213 million in tax financial savings.

The Lever, Fox Can Declare Tax Writeoff For Defamation Settlement:

The corporate says it may possibly deduct the price of its $787 million payout to Dominion over its election lies.

Fox’s huge settlement with non-public equity-backed voting machine firm Dominion Voting Methods didn’t simply spare the conservative information group from a prolonged public defamation trial or a full public reckoning for its election lies — it might additionally imply a tax break as massive as $213 million, based on a Lever assessment.

On Tuesday, Fox Information and its mum or dad firm Fox Company agreed to pay a $787 million settlement to Dominion, the largest-known media defamation payout in U.S. historical past, concluding two years of litigation over the information community’s false claims that the 2020 election was rigged.

Because of an arcane line within the tax code, Fox can deduct that settlement cost from its revenue taxes, based on an organization spokesperson and tax consultants consulted by The Lever. That’s as a result of federal legislation permits taxpayers to write down off many authorized prices, offering that they’re “bizarre and vital” enterprise bills. The IRS has repeatedly affirmed that for main companies, paying out settlements is simply a part of the price of doing enterprise.

https://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_blog/2023/04/fox-can-deduct-787-million-defamation-settlement-over-vote-fraud-claims.html