Tax Law
IRS Battles Billionaire Anschutz in $144M Capital Gains Case
Posted Jun 9, 2008, 11:54 am CST
By Martha Neil
Was it a "variable prepaid forward contract"? Or was it an actual sale of stock?
That is the central question in a battle royal between billionaire Philip Anschutz, reportedly one of the 50 richest men in the world, and the Internal Revenue Service. It is seeking to force the Denver-based investor to pay $143.6 million he allegedly owes in back taxes because of capital gains as a result of stock sales, the Wall Street Journal reported in a lengthy page-one article today.
Although few are likely to owe as much in back taxes, assuming the IRS prevails, the issue is of interest to other investors because the capital-gains-avoidance technique used by Anschutz reportedly is relatively common among executives.