Why did the US not treat Joe Louis with more respect he gave his country everything..

Amen, man. I've done some time abroad, fighting and training a bit. It's not all roses in socialist democracies. It's expensive as hell, and none of the "great services" are especially awesome. I straight up didn't enjoy being in Europe when I wasn't a tourist or in camp.

 

Joe had people looking out for him after all was said an done. He was no longer wealthy the way he was but he was taken care of.

 

Simple round up to this one is:

A) Max Schmelling was not a Nazi and did as much as any reasonable person could be expected to do in that circumstance;
B) Joe Louis was a great man - a great sports legend, a great heavy weight champion, a contributor to WW2 and the civil rights movement.
C) Joe Louis was also foolish, and wasteful, and didn't pay his taxes - or even nearly enough tax by any standards.
D) Everyone has to pay tax and if you don't it will catch up with you, and you'll probably die poor or in jail. This is as true for Joe Louis as it is for you or I.

There's not a lot more to say on that.

 

We must maintain our heroes' glossy sheen at all costs. :bart

 

Do you think the Rock paid taxes on all that cash he kept in coffee cans buried about the US?

 

Lucky for him the plane crashed, saving himself the audit.

 

Yes, initially. Because the witholding tax was introduced in 1943 and the tax man was getting his cut first.

Afterwards if that money was sitting in coffee cans it was not generating any income for him so he would not have to pay taxes on dividends, interest, or any other growth.

 

Lilly LIvered Leftie

 

Maybe he was being paid in cash for appearances.

He was as brilliant a skinflint as he was the Rhode Island Cruiserweight Champion.

 

WTF ???

That was TWO strikes against him.

The Nazis hated Jews and they weren't too keen on queers either.

 

ok, i like i said before, i agree louis was wasteful with his money and it eventually cost him but he truly got ****ed by the government with his tax situation. here's the history of marginal tax rate:

http://taxfoundation.org/sites/taxf...ocs/fed_rates_history_nominal_1913_2013_0.pdf

i'll post the tax rate in 1948, joe's last year he made a title defense:

20.0% $0 $2,000
22.0% $2,000 $4,000
26.0% $4,000 $6,000
30.0% $6,000 $8,000
34.0% $8,000 $10,000
38.0% $10,000 $12,000
43.0% $12,000 $14,000
47.0% $14,000 $16,000
50.0% $16,000 $18,000
53.0% $18,000 $20,000
56.0% $20,000 $22,000
59.0% $22,000 $26,000
62.0% $26,000 $32,000
65.0% $32,000 $38,000
69.0% $38,000 $44,000
72.0% $44,000 $50,000
75.0% $50,000 $60,000
78.0% $60,000 $70,000
81.0% $70,000 $80,000
84.0% $80,000 $90,000
87.0% $90,000 $100,000
89.0% $100,000 $150,000
90.0% $150,000 $200,000
91.0% $200,000

he donated over $110,000 (would be more than $1 million today) in two fights to the military and eventually was taxed on these fights at basically these same rates as you can see on the link provided. factor in the interest added on from the irs and the fact joe was in the army for 4 years during the war, and he never had a prayer of catching up with this debt. if the marginal tax rate was this high today you'd have a revolt. joe was a victim of his time as far as taxes go. he may have ended up broke in any era but he was treated very unfairly when he was taxed for his military donations. i think even your wife sanchezfan would agree that louis got screwed here.

joe was doing what he thought was right and it literally cost him dearly.

i just realized i've resorted to posting marginal tax rates on this site. no telling what topic will be tomorrow.

btw, i'm not sure what's up with all the louis tax hate on this thread?

 

You are misunderstanding how the marginal tax rate works. However, lets pretend that Joe owed the government 89% of what he donated. Donating money, even today (and it only applies to charitable organizations) does not exempt you from paying taxes by the amount you donate. If I donate 1million to the Red Cross and I owe 1million in taxes I dont get to call it a wash.

Another point I will make is that even if Joe was literally losing 89% of his income off the top to the government (which he wasnt) that means he still retains $12,100, which is more than five times the average annual income in 1942. But that doesnt matter because Louis was actually drawing down much much more than this.

If you do the math Joe was paying about 69% in 1942 on that $110,000. If he didnt give that money to the war effort (and had he kept it he still would not have paid taxes on it) then he would have been left with over $37,000 of 1942 money, or nearly fifteen times the average annual household income and thats not including his other income. The country was in a war and just pulling out of the great depression and Im supposed to feel sorry for some rich guy who at his worst probably lived better than most?

That being said, do you think Joe Louis was the only one who helped the war effort at a great personal expense? I dont have a lot of sympathy for a guy who in a few months makes fifteen times what I make in a year then blows it and cries poor when the tax man comes a knockin. Louis could have paid it and should have paid it. But he didnt pay it.

 

I agree. It's not tax hate; It's just a lack of sympathy. I don't pity Joe Louis; He made his bed. I think some of what happened to him was bull****, but it happens to everybody, every day. No way some boxer is more deserving of a break from government bull**** than every other soldier or athlete.

To be fair to Joe, I don't remember reading anywhere that he ever insinuated that he did, in fact, deserve one.

 

His race had nothing to do with it. They ****ed over way more white people, IRS goes after anyone .

 

There is no one who is a bigger fan of joe Louis than I...My favorite heavyweight.
But everyone has a responsibility to pay his taxes, even the Brown Bomber who I am sure had legal and tax advice during his great reign, but ignored his advisers. Besides
it is a well known fact that Louis lost a fortune on the golf course, as it was written quite often in the columns of the newspapers. Louis was addicted to golf, and squandered a fortune of money, along with alimony and trysts with show business babes.
No government is to be blamed for any fighters excesses...You make your cherce, and you pay the piper...With all the taxes Louis owed the IRS, he was taken care of by the American public and lived a good life,til the very end...