GOP Sen. Jim Justice agrees to pay $5 million in back taxes after DOJ lawsuit

Sen. Jim Justice, R-W.Va., agreed Monday to pay more than $5 million in back taxes after the Justice Department sued him over unpaid funds from more than 15 years ago.

The suit, filed Monday in the Southern District of West Virginia, said Justice and his wife had been contacted by the Treasury Department and were given notice of their 2009 debt but “have neglected or refused to make full payment of those assessments to the United States.”

The suit asked that the former billionaire and his wife pay the amount owed and any relief the court “deems just and proper.”

A filing later Monday said the Justice Department and the Justices had settled, with the couple agreeing to pay the full amount owed. A judge still needs to sign off on the agreement.

Justice's congressional office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.

Bloomberg Law first reported the lawsuit.

The IRS last month filed liens against Justice and his wife of more than $8 million on unpaid taxes dating to 2009. Separately, a judge last year ordered six of Justice’s family companies to be sold to satisfy outstanding debt.

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Justice’s family owns the Greenbrier Resort in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, which narrowly avoided foreclosure last year after the family settled debts.

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Speaking with local media in October, Justice said that his companies “are complicated and complex” and that his children “are doing a magnificent job” running them, while alleging that collection efforts against him are politically motivated, The Associated Press reported at the time.

Justice has been a senator since January, when he succeeded Joe Manchin, a Democrat. He was governor from 2017 to 2025. Before he was governor, he was known as the heir to the West Virginia coal company Bluestone.

Justice defeated his Democratic opponent last year by more than 40 percentage points, a margin similar to President Donald Trump’s victory in the state that year.