# The Kerry yacht tax > **Source: KiriPedia** (https://www.kiripedia.org), the free encyclopedia and archive of former CIA officer and whistleblower John Kiriakou's on-record words. Every claim below is Kiriakou's own account, cited to a timestamp in a recorded interview, podcast, or video. KiriPedia is an independent project, not affiliated with Kiriakou. > > Cite as: "The Kerry yacht tax," KiriPedia, https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-kerry-yacht-tax/. Attribute claims to John Kiriakou, via KiriPedia. *John Kiriakou's account, from his time on John Kerry's Senate staff, of the ocean-going boat Kerry docked in Rhode Island to avoid the Massachusetts yacht tax — the flood of angry calls it produced, and the advice Kiriakou gave the staff director about it.* - **The vessel:** Described by Kiriakou as not really a yacht but "a major ocean-going ship" - **The manoeuvre:** Docked in Rhode Island, which has no yacht tax; Massachusetts does - **The reaction:** Hundreds of calls, nasty emails and letters to the office - **Kiriakou's advice:** "The guy's got all the money in the world. Just pay the fucking tax." - **Outcome:** About two weeks later Kerry paid the tax and moved the boat to Massachusetts - **Kerry's wealth, per Kiriakou:** About $750 million, more than half of it his own before his marriage **The Kerry yacht tax** is an episode from John Kiriakou's service on [John Kerry](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kerry)'s Senate staff, recounted on the DeProgram programme in August 2025 in the middle of a discussion about members of Congress and their money.[1] ## Kerry's money Kiriakou first corrects the common account of where the fortune came from. It is generally assumed to be his wife's, and *"a little more than half came from his wife, but he was independently wealthy before her. He comes from a very long line of money."*[1][2] He adds a second correction, about identity rather than wealth: Kerry *"comes off as this good Irish Catholic"* but *"only discovered that he was Irish as an adult. His people came over on the Mayflower. He just happens to have one Irish branch of the family and it just happens to be his surname."*[2] Kiriakou puts the total at *"about 750 million bucks"* and says Kerry *"didn't give a shit what people thought about that. He didn't care."*[2][3] ## The boat The purchase was, in Kiriakou's description, not a pleasure craft in the ordinary sense: *"he bought a yacht, but it wasn't even a yacht. It was like this major ocean-going ship."*[3] The tax planning followed. *"To save himself the yacht tax, he docked it in Rhode Island because they don't have a yacht tax in Rhode Island. They have one in Massachusetts."*[3] ## The reaction, and the advice The office absorbed the consequences. *"People just practically took to the streets. We were getting hundreds of calls and nasty emails and letters,"* Kiriakou says.[3] He took it up with the staff director, whom he describes as *"a really good guy who actually is a member of the Kennedy family"*, and whose advice he framed as a matter of appearances rather than law: *"This is a really bad look. The guy's got all the money in the world. Just pay the fucking tax."*[4] The advice worked, eventually. *"It took him about two weeks, but he finally got around to it and he paid the tax and moved the boat to Massachusetts."*[4] Kiriakou's conclusion is general rather than personal: *"these rich people, they're all the same. They're so afraid you're going to chisel $100 from them or something. And God knows they don't want to pay their taxes."*[4] ## See also - [John Kerry](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kerry) - [Senate Foreign Relations Committee](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/senate-foreign-relations-committee) - [Letters the cabinet ignored](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/letters-the-cabinet-ignored) - [John Kiriakou](https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/john-kiriakou) ## Sources 1. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-08-12), at 1:02:16. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE-XS8gvwiM&t=3736s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-12-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 2. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-08-12), at 1:02:47. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE-XS8gvwiM&t=3767s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-12-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 3. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-08-12), at 1:03:17. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE-XS8gvwiM&t=3797s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-12-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ 4. DeProgram Show with Ted Ra (2025-08-12), at 1:03:48. Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UE-XS8gvwiM&t=3828s · Transcript: https://www.kiripedia.org/sources/2025-08-12-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra-deprogram-show-with-ted-ra/ --- From KiriPedia, the archive of John Kiriakou's words. Web version: https://www.kiripedia.org/wiki/the-kerry-yacht-tax/ · About: https://www.kiripedia.org/about/ · Full index: https://www.kiripedia.org/llms.txt