An arcane tax provision lets the company save up to $213 million in taxes due to its $787 million defamation settlement.
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-Rhode Island) filed a bill on Wednesday that would specifically bar large corporations from being able to take an income tax deduction from certain defamation payments.
The legislation is seemingly aimed directly at barring Fox from being able to diminish the impact of its settlement payment over actions that likely had a huge impact on eroding American democracy.
Fox confirmed to The Lever that it can claim this tax deduction.
Lawmakers have condemned the tax loophole, saying that the public should not have to suffer even further from Fox’s lies.
“Taxpayers shouldn’t have to foot the bill for multi-billion-dollar companies like Fox News when they get caught selling malicious lies that are damaging our democracy,” Whitehouse said in a statement.
The bill comes as companion legislation to a similar House Bill, filed earlier this month by Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pennsylvania), called the “No Taxpayer Bailout for Defamation Act.” »