Tax Lawyer's Blog

Paul Caron blogs about the tax problems of Senator John Ensign (R-NV):

Following up on my July post (Adultery and Tax Planning) on the sordid tale of Sen. John Ensign’s extra marital affair with Cynthia Hampton, a campaign staffer married to Douglas Hampton, Sen. Ensign’s former chief of staff.  

I noted that the $96,000 in “gifts” by Sen. Ensign’s parents to the Hamptons was structured in the form of eight checks of $12,000 each — four checks each from Sen. Ensign’s father and mother to Cynthia Hampton, Douglas Hampton, and their two children in order to take full advantage of the $12,000 gift tax annual exclusion available in 2008. 

This week’s New York Times’ detailed investigation should prompt the IRS to question the treatment of the $96,000 payment as a gift in light of the possible legal claims by the Hamptons against Sen. Ensign.

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