Republican US Senator Jim Justice and his wife Cathy have agreed to pay over $5 million in back taxes, shortly after being sued by the federal government over the 16-year-old debt. The lawsuit, filed on Monday in federal court in West Virginia, claimed the Justices had been notified of the amount due since 2009 but had failed to pay.
The suit demanded repayment of nearly $5.2 million, plus any other relief deemed appropriate. Later that day, the US Department of Justice announced a settlement, with the couple agreeing to pay the full amount plus statutory interest and other accruing additions. The agreement is pending judicial approval.
This legal action follows an October filing by the Internal Revenue Service of over $8 million in liens against the Justices for unpaid personal taxes. Additionally, West Virginia tax collectors placed a $1.4 million lien on the Greenbrier hotel resort, owned and operated by the Justice family, which narrowly avoided foreclosure in August 2024.
Jim Justice, a coalmining heir and former West Virginia governor, was once considered the state's wealthiest resident. However, a Forbes report from January estimated his net worth as 'less than zero' due to over $1 billion in collective debt. Justice has previously dismissed debt collection efforts as politically motivated, stating his businesses are 'complicated and complex'.
