Americans for Tax Reform recently reviewed Bill Clinton's tax returns and discovered he overpriced the value of his used underpants and other clothing items that he donated to charity to increase his tax write-off when he was governor of Arkansas.
Clinton hand wrote in 1986 multiple deductions for clothing items that he was donating to the Salvation Army, the Washington Examiner reported.
As governor of Arkansas in 1986, Clinton hand wrote a $6 charity deduction for "3 pr. underwear" that even today are only valued at $1 each, according to the analysis from Americans for Tax Reform. He also claimed $75 for "Garbardine suit - ripped pants" valued by Salvation Army this year at $10-$60.
For just 10 items the Clintons overvalued in their 1986 tax returns, said the group headed by Grover Norquist, they were able to take a write-off of over $1,500 in 2016 dollars.
Said ATR: "The new examination of handwritten notes reveals the Clintons cheated on their taxes by significantly overstating the value of their donated clothing. These are not simple rounding errors of a few percentage points: The Clinton's overstated the value of their used clothing by a factor of several hundred percent."
While Clinton was mocked during his presidential campaign for donating his used underwear to charity, ATR is the first watchdog group to provide analysis comparing Clinton's deduction values to the actual amount that the Salvation Army gives. ATR's report quoted IRS agent and tax policy expert Ryan Ellis, who questioned Clinton's tax claims, according to the Examiner.
"Hillary and Bill Clinton clearly overstated the fair market value of the clothing donated," Ellis said. "If a taxpayer overstates a deduction like this, they could be held liable under audit by the IRS for back taxes, interest, and a failure-to-pay penalty."
ATR's President Grover Norquist was also very critical of the Clintons and the press for focusing on the "giggle factor" of the underwear instead of reporting on the Clintons breaking the law.
"Hillary and Bill Clinton didn't pay the taxes they owed. The press has focused only on the giggle factor of the underwear, but fail to mention the Clintons broke the law," Norquist said. "Meanwhile, Hillary has pushed a national gun tax, a soda tax, a payroll tax hike on middle income households, a Death Tax hike, a capital gains tax hike, and several other tax hikes totaling $1.4 trillion over a decade."
ATR has set up a website to monitor Clinton's tax hike proposals.