I like to give people the benefit of the doubt on a lot of things, especially when it comes to taxes. It is, after all, easy to rely on the advice of others – tax professionals – and make bad choices. In fact, a lot of what I do involves helping people get out of the bad choices that they make. Usually, this happens by figuring out what the better choices are and trying to get back to that point.
Apparently, this doesn’t apply to everybody.
My favorite whiny-yet-plays-tough-guy of late, Wesley Snipes, made one of those bad choices. He filed no taxes between 1999 and 2004 and then filed fraudulent returns claiming millions of dollars in refunds in 1996 and 1997. Easy mistakes to make, right? I mean, if you’re a famous Hollywood actor, why bother paying taxes? Aren’t you somehow exempt?
Wesley Snipes seems to think so. In addition to claiming to be a victim (are you as sympathetic as I am here?) of bad advice, he is also arguing that he has been selectively targeted for prosecution because he’s black.
Right. And Richard Hatch was targeted because he was often naked.
Or maybe – and this is just a guess – it was because both of them cheated on their taxes.
In his motion to dismiss the indictment against him, Snipes argued that the charges were levied against him because he is black. A federal judge is still considering that motion.
whaaattt? that’s so absurd. geez. everybody is blaming everybody or everything in Hollywood. *tsk tsk*
I tagged you btw. Hope you don’t mind. Please visit:
http://www.sheknowsbest.com
What the Hell?? The only minority he’s in…..is the “Non Paying Tax Payer” group. Wake up tough guy and pay your share.
It is really hard to believe that people are still using the race card. This only keeps the fire burning between the races and is absolutely ludicrous.
is stupidity a black thang?
wesley better start calling al sharpton same goes for michael vick AMERICA IS FED UP WITH THE RACE CARD ..AL SHARPTON WAS GOING TO PROTEST PARIS HILTON IN FRONT OF HER HOME MAYBE BEING WHITE AND OTHER PEOPLE HERE THAT ARE WHITE NEED TO TAKE A STAND AGAINST AL SHARPTON AND HIS BULLSHIT HE BLAME WHITE AMERICA FOR . WHITE PEOPLE NEED TO TAKE A STAND FOR THEIR RACE INSTEAD OF LETTING THIS BLACK RACIST AL SHARPTON RUN AROUND GETTING PEOPLE FIRED BECAUSE HE DONT THINK IT IS RIGHT.. AL SHARPTON MAKES ME LOOK DOWN ON BLACK FOLKS AND EVERYTHING HE STANDS FOR .. MLK WOULD NOT LET AL SHARPTON DO THIS SHIT IF THE COON WAS STILL ALIVE .. AL SHARPTON YOU STILL LIVE IN THE 50 AND 60 S AL SHARPTON YOU NOTHING BUT A BIG FRAUD AND HAVE FOUND A CON TO SUPPORT YOUR LAZY WANNA BE REVERND JOB .. AL SHARPTON NEEDS TO BE FIRED
Being a firm believer in equal rights and MLK’s Dream, this situation and others like it make me sick. I’m tired of everytime a person of color gets into a legal jam, they cry “racism!”. This is NOT the dream that MLK pursued. MLK’s belief was that people should “Be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” Seems to me, that is exactly what has happened to Mr. Snipes. His character, or lack of it, has gotten him into hot water with the IRS. I’m white, and if I hadn’t paid my taxes for years, the IRS would be coming after me too! Mr. Snipes, you’re being treated with equality! Your celebrity nor your skin color are being taken into account. It’s your unpaid tax dollars that are. In my opinion, if minorities want real equality, they need to stop hiding behind their skin color for all their troubles and realize that when the rest of us have troubles, we work them out the best we can. Convicting a black man for tax evasion is NOT racism. He broke the law, he should pay. Just like the rest of us.
Note: I would love to read your comments, really! And I appreciate the thoughtfulness that goes into many of them.
However, I won’t tolerate swearing, name-calling and general nastiness.
Keep it clean, people! Remember, my mother might be reading: http://www.taxgirl.com/official-comment-policy/
In 35 years with IRS I never heard even a whiff of anybody considering even thinking about the possibility of race as grounds for prosecution. There are two words to describe Wesley Snipes claim and the first one is Bull. The second may be looney, maybe not.