And here I thought my days of reporting on Joe Francis were over…
It turns out that the Girls Gone Wild founder hasn’t quite put his tax woes behind him. After taking a deal to plead guilty to two misdemeanor counts of filing false tax returns – and escaping additional jail time in the process – Francis has found himself in the hot seat again.
If you believe TMZ, the IRS has liened Francis for nearly $34 million. To clarify, the IRS claims that Francis owes tens of millions of dollars in unpaid taxes. The breakdown is as follows: $17.7 million in 2001, $11.2 million in 2002 and $4.9 million in 2003. I’m not sure how much the penalties are since I haven’t seen the actual liens but those numbers put his net income somewhere close to $100 million for those three years.
I know, I know. Here I’ve blogging tax all this time when clearly, I should be producing porn.
On the plus side, though, I haven’t had to advise TMZ that my accounts have been frozen by the IRS to the tune of $100 million (no, those numbers don’t quite make sense – just reporting as I hear it). Francis has also allegedly reported that he will file for personal bankruptcy on tomorrow.
I’m not sure how this will affect Francis’ plea deal which requires him to resolve his outstanding tax issues. I mean, it is a resolution – but I’m guessing not so much what IRS had in mind. We’ll see.
(Editor’s note: I have since seen a copy of the liens as filed with LA County. As of 11/06/2009, the liens totaled $33,819,088.14)
Boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. didn’t quite walk away from his bout with Juan Manuel Marquez with all that he had hoped for… That $10 million prize money was chopped in half after he agreed to pay $5.6 million in back taxes to the IRS. The agreement put the breaks on a potential levy on Mayweather’s winnings for back taxes; the IRS had sent the Nevada Athletic Commission a notice of levy on September 4, about two weeks before Mayweather’s fight in an effort to collect the taxes due. They rescinded the levy notice about a week before the fight after reaching an agreement with Mayweather.
However, Mayweather’s tax attorney, Jeffrey Morse, claims that the feds never planned to take the money. Morse also said he expected the IRS to release the $6.17 million lien filed last year against Mayweather (that hasn’t happened yet). The levy was valued at about $5.6 million.
Despite Morse’s prepared statements PR nonsense characterizations about Mayweather’s intentions to become or remain compliant, Mayweather has quite a history with the IRS. Liens have been filed against Mayweather in prior years after he failed to pay what he owed in 2001, 2003, 2005 and 2006. This most recent lien was for 2007.
Mayweather also owes the State of New Jersey almost $200,000 for unpaid taxes (that debt has not yet been paid).
In addition to tax woes, Mayweather’s dance card has been quite full: he’s been liened by a number of homeowner associations and has at least one lawsuit pending for failing to make payments owed on a car. It seems that the boxer, who likes to call himself “Money”, may be able to manage himself in the ring but can’t seem to managed his money out of it.
Taxpayer asks:
I own a house where I live with my boyfriend. I pay almost of the bills because he does not currently have a job. I’m working full time as a paralegal and I hope to go to law school some day. I really enjoy your blog.
Here’s my question. Because he’s not working, my boyfriend has some large debts including a huge ($100,000++) bill to the IRS. Can I be held responsible for any of those debts? I’m mostly concerned that the IRS may take my house since he is living there (he does not have any other place to go).
Taxgirl says:
The short answer to your first question is that no, you cannot be held responsible for your boyfriend’s tax debt just because he lives at your house. As to the other debts, I really don’t know – it depends on how the debts were accrued (if, for example, he used credit to buy the TV sitting in your house, then it may have to go back). Your boyfriend should consider getting a professional to help him sort that out.
(*throat clearing*)
Okay, now off comes the lawyer hat and on comes the mom hat. This is none of my business but since you wrote in, I’m going to say it anyway:
I understand that this isn’t a great economy. I understand that work is hard to find. And I understand that it may be easy to amass debt when you aren’t working.
But you don’t accrue a $100,000 tax bill as an individual by accident. That takes some doing. And the fact that you are paying all of the bills while your boyfriend lives with you with that kind of debt worries me more than just a little.
You’ve clearly made some good choices – you’re a homeowner, so you must have managed to keep your credit in better shape than your boyfriend’s. I think it’s great that you’re working full time as a paralegal – in this market, that’s pretty impressive. The fact that you still want to become a lawyer after working with them baffles me just a little… 
I hope, however, that you continue to make good choices. I don’t know your boyfriend’s situation – how long he’s been out of work, etc. – but I do know that focusing on his issues rather than yours is not going to get you very far. Put yourself first. Don’t sacrifice your own finances for your boyfriend. And for the love of Pete, don’t marry him until he has his ducks in a row.
There. Now I feel better. I wish you the best of luck!
Like any good lawyer, I need to add a disclaimer: Unfortunately, it is impossible to give comprehensive tax advice over the internet, no matter how well researched or written. Before relying on any information given on this site, contact a tax professional to discuss your particular situation.
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