Why was Joe Louis treated so poorly by the IRS?

[dmt]

educate me on this case

[Bill1234]

Because he didn't pay his taxes. Being a champ doesn't mean you don't have to pay taxes like everyone else, no matter what age you are, or the finacial postion (Joes fault too). Joe wasn't very smart finacialy, and he payed for it...literaly.

[ironchamp]

Originally Posted by Bill1234

Because he didn't pay his taxes. Being a champ doesn't mean you don't have to pay taxes like everyone else, no matter what age you are, or the finacial postion (Joes fault too). Joe wasn't very smart finacialy, and he payed for it...literaly.

Thats a little short sighted. He was not paying taxes on purses in which he donated to charity. His charitable contributions were not taxed deductible and they were treated as ordinary income even though he was donating them.

[mr. magoo]

Originally Posted by ironchamp

Thats a little short sighted. He was not paying taxes on purses in which he donated to charity. His charitable contributions were not taxed deductible and they were treated as ordinary income even though he was donating them.

I'm wondering if some of the tax dectible laws that we have now were put into place for just such reasons.

[dmt]

does all the tax go in America go for the benifit of the nation? Louis atleast did something by donating money

[Sizzle]

He had opportunities to pay them but was advised to let them accumulate.

At the end of the day, Joe Louis admitted that regardless of how much money he had earnt, he would've spent it all and found himself in financial mess. Many unlikely celebrities have followed the same path, Tyson is another boxer who earnt millions and was left with nothing.

Louis was not treated poorly by the IRS, you could possibly argue his advisors had the wrong idea though

[janitor]

Originally Posted by Sizzle

Louis was not treated poorly by the IRS, you could possibly argue his advisors had the wrong idea though

You do not think that charging sombody tax on money that have donated to the government is treating them poorley.

He could have kept the money for himself and not paid a cent in taxes.

[Bill1234]

Originally Posted by dmt

does all the tax go in America go for the benifit of the nation? Louis atleast did something by donating money

Nope. Look at Iraq. We are in the trillions now. Are the taxes going for a good cause there? Not anymore.

[Bill1234]

Originally Posted by janitor

You do not think that charging sombody tax on money that have donated to the government is treating them poorley.

He could have kept the money for himself and not paid a cent in taxes.

Or he could have paid the taxes and used the left overs for charity if he was gonna blow it all anyway. Look at Holmes and Cooney. Both pay taxes and donate tons of money to charity. Holmes just got the boy of steel award for donating millions to help cancer patients.

[janitor]

Originally Posted by Bill1234

Or he could have paid the taxes and used the left overs for charity if he was gonna blow it all anyway. Look at Holmes and Cooney. Both pay taxes and donate tons of money to charity. Holmes just got the boy of steel award for donating millions to help cancer patients.

During the war Joe Louis defended his title twice and fought 93 exhibitions to raise money for the army and navy releif funds. He never saw a penny of any of these purses and the bouts were billed as being to raise money for these charities. Louis raised so much money for the army and navy releif funds that they could not spend it all.

Then they turned round years after the event and demanded that he pay taxes on these purses on a technicality. By any measure it was grosley unreasonable.

No maybe Louis would have squandered the money anyway but that is no excuse to screw him. At the verry least his childrens trust funds which they seized would have remained intact even if he had ended up homeless.

[Rumsfeld]

Originally Posted by Bill1234

Nope. Look at Iraq. We are in the trillions now. Are the taxes going for a good cause there? Not anymore.

So you don't believe tax dollars spent on national defense constitue a 'good cause'?

[janitor]

Originally Posted by Bill1234

Nope. Look at Iraq. We are in the trillions now. Are the taxes going for a good cause there? Not anymore.

I would argue that the army and navy releif funds in world war II were a prety worthy cause.

[Duodenum]

Because he donated his entire purse from his rematch with Buddy Baer to the Navy Relief Fund, and then his entire purse from the Abe Simon rematch to the Army Relief Fund. "NO GOOD DEED GOES UNPUNISHED." It's his own fault. If he'd successfully helped the Axis powers to defeat the United States instead, he would not have had to worry about being hassled by the United States IRS. If the United States had prevailed in WW II regardless of his support or lack thereof, then he would have been far better off not helping his country at all. (How could he possibly have been any worse off?)

The concept of "patriotism" is always a tool used by the always unpatriotic power elite to manipulate and coerce loyalty from the naive and oppressed populace.

[Motor City Sam]

Originally Posted by janitor

During the war Joe Louis defended his title twice and fought 93 exhibitions to raise money for the army and navy releif funds. He never saw a penny of any of these purses and the bouts were billed as being to raise money for these charities. Louis raised so much money for the army and navy releif funds that they could not spend it all.

Then they turned round years after the event and demanded that he pay taxes on these purses on a technicality. By any measure it was grosley unreasonable.

No maybe Louis would have squandered the money anyway but that is no excuse to screw him. At the verry least his childrens trust funds which they seized would have remained intact even if he had ended up homeless.

Exactly. You would think that given the fund raising Joe did for the Armed Forces as well as the fact that he was a national hero and symbol during WW II that the government would have given him a pass on that. Heck, US presidents have pardoned criminals and vacated verdicts for connected people since the government was established.

[ChrisPontius]

Originally Posted by janitor

During the war Joe Louis defended his title twice and fought 93 exhibitions to raise money for the army and navy releif funds. He never saw a penny of any of these purses and the bouts were billed as being to raise money for these charities. Louis raised so much money for the army and navy releif funds that they could not spend it all.

Then they turned round years after the event and demanded that he pay taxes on these purses on a technicality. By any measure it was grosley unreasonable.

No maybe Louis would have squandered the money anyway but that is no excuse to screw him. At the verry least his childrens trust funds which they seized would have remained intact even if he had ended up homeless.

Holy shit, 93 times? No wonder he was worn down by the age of 32.