First Page
57
Last Page
76
Abstract
Following the 2020 Presidential Election, Fox News Network, LLC aired commentary from television hosts, correspondents, and guests who claimed that Dominion Voting Systems manipulated votes and promoted voter fraud to falsify election results. In March 2021, Dominion filed a defamation lawsuit against Fox News, alleging that Fox News “intentionally and falsely blam[ed] Dominion for President Trump’s loss by rigging the election.”
In April 2023, Fox News and Dominion settled the defamation suit for $787.5 million. Once the agreement was publicized, Fox News’s Chief Communications Officer boasted that Fox News would deduct the settlement amount from its taxes as an ordinary and necessary expense incurred in carrying on a trade or business.
This Note contends that the monetary settlement paid by Fox News in the defamation suit, originating from false statements disseminated to discredit the 2020 election’s legitimacy, is not tax-deductible. While Fox News would typically be permitted to deduct the settlement as an ordinary and necessary business expense under Internal Revenue Code § 162(a), this deduction should be disallowed because Dominion’s claim arose from Fox News’s defamatory statements made in an attempt to intervene in and influence the general public concerning the 2020 election. I.R.C. § 162(e) specifically disallows the deduction of expenses incurred for such purposes.
Recommended Citation
Benjamin M. Newman, US Dominion, Inc. v. Fox News Network, LLC, 69 N.Y.L. Sch. L. Rev. 57 (2025).