Mind Boggling this was ever allowed to be deducted
n Tuesday, Nov. 14, Rep. Ken Buck offered an amendment to H.R. 1, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, prohibiting tax subsidies for legal settlements related to sexual assault or sexual harassment.“America has been watching Hollywood for decades, but not watching closely enough. Behind the red carpets and glitzy premieres is a culture of deceit and depravity. As Congress rethinks our tax code, we need to rethink the way we treat Hollywood by eliminating the business expense deduction for hush money associated with sexual assault and sexual harassment cases,” Buck said in a statement announcing the amendment:
"When companies pay settlements and legal fees in the regular course of their business, these costs can typically be written off as ordinary and necessary business expenses. In allowing these businesses to expense the cost of resolving legal issues, the tax code makes it less financially costly for the business to engage in or allow activity that draws lawsuits. In Hollywood, this means that when companies settle a sexual harassment or sexual assault case and then deduct that settlement from their tax liability, the American taxpayer effectively subsidizes those companies’ costs of covering up the illegal behavior.
"Rep. Buck’s amendment would eliminate business expensing for legal settlements, fines, fees, and legal expenses associated with sexual assault and sexual harassment."
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Original Article, "Congressman Calls for Tax Reform to Prohibit Tax Breaks for Media Sexual Abuse Settlements," published Nov. 8, 2017:
Any tax reform bill should include language to prevent “the moral rot within Hollywood and the entertainment industry” from writing off settlements paid to victims of sexual abuse, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) said Tuesday in a letter to House Ways and Means Chair Kevin Brady (R-Texas).
“I am concerned that federal tax policy unwittingly rewards the cover ups of these offenses,” Rep. Buck writes, calling for addition of specific tax bill language to ban the practice:"The settlements that have been paid out to victims could very well qualify as business expenses and thus be deducted from the taxes of these media companies."https://www.cnsnews.com/blog/craig-b...se-settlements
“I ask that you include language in the tax reform proposal that would end this practice. Under no circumstance should our tax code subsidize the efforts to conceal this abuse.”