Chapter 4
"'Survivor' Winner To Plead Guilty"
Millionaire Richard Hatch, the season one winner of Survivor was found guilty of failing to report his income tax on his winnings won from the show, in addition to another $321 000 from appearances on a Boston radio station. Hatch was charged with filing a false tax return. On top of omitting his winnings on his tax return he also did not repot rental income from properties he had ownership over, and the car won from the reality show Survivor. He was found guilty of tax evasion in Rhode Island in 2006, sentenced to 51 months in prison and an additional three years of supervised release after those 51 months.
relation to chapter 4
People with higher incomes are expected to pay higher taxes than people with lower incomes. This is the case with a progressive approach to taxation. Rhode Island is one the many places that goes by the progressive tax, it also is the location of where Richard Hatch was sentenced to many numbers of months in jail for filing a false tax return.
According to our textbook (working with economics) “there may be less tax evasion if paying taxes were less onerous and less costly. “. Meaning that more people would pay their taxes fully if it didn’t end up taking so much of their hard earned income, and wasn’t such a burden. Everyone is expected to pay retail sales taxes, income taxes, and property taxes along with several other taxes. Wityh all these taxes I wasnt surprised that Richard Hatch evaded his.
posted by pamela lai @ 5:52 PM
3 Comments:
I was also not surprised he tried to evade all those taxes. With him being at a high income level his taxes are at an extremely high amount. However, I think 51 months in prison is a little too harsh for him. The statement “there may be less tax evasion if paying taxes were less onerous and less costly." is very true. I also agree that people will be less likely to tax evade if the tax rates were not at such a high amount.
The winner of SURVIVOR did not survive the tax evasion he tried, and I think he deserved to get a sentence of 51 months. This case shouts out to everyone that thinks they can evade taxes. Even a millionaire thinks he can walk away with all his money. Taxes are a crucial part in the economy and the social services that are provided to millions per day. I hope that this will cause awareness and lower the percentage of people that are evading taxes now.
I remember hearing about this but kind of dismissed the news because I could really care less about Survivor.
Anyways, to the point. Fifty-one months is...a little over 4 years? I agree with Richard that it's a little harsh. If they want to avoid tax evades though, they should definitely lower the rates.
Cheers, Connie (Blk. F)
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