April 15th
Just in time for you-know-what day, a federal judge has denied Richard Hatch’s motion to move to Argentina while on his soon-to-be supervised release for filing a false tax return, according to the Austin American Statesman.
Hatch first gained fame as the first ever winner of the TV “reality” show Survivor, and was the first of seventeen winners – yes, that’s 17 - so far to walk off the stage with the oversized one million dollar check. Unfortunately, his defense at jury trial that he thought CBS had actually pre-paid his taxes and that the $1 million was after-tax winnings was somewhat undercut by his additional failure to report another few hundred thousand in earnings through radio appearances made possible by his sudden fame.
Bearing in mind that nothing on this blog – especially the following – is meant to be taken as legal advice, let me leave you with this thought:
26 USC §7201 - Attempt to evade income tax by filing a false individual tax return… is a felony punishable by up to 5 years in prison.
26 USC §7203 – Failure to file a tax return (at all)… is a misdemeanor.
Maybe I should start a category called “Things that make you go Hmmmmmm”.
