You Can’t Get Off the Mailing List

I remember an old Peanuts where Snoopy asks to get off the IRS’ mailing list. It just doesn’t happen, and Barry Lusk of Easley, South Carolina may have learned his lesson.

This story begins back in 2000. Mr. Lusk was successful, and he owned two businesses. He proceeded to sell the businesses for $1.5 million. He wrote the IRS and said that the tax laws didn’t apply to him.

You’re already ahead of me, right?

The IRS let Mr. Lusk know that they didn’t appreciate frivolous correspondence. Indeed, Mr. Lusk’s own accountant advised him to file his returns. He didn’t, so the IRS came up with the amount of tax he owed: $843,000.

In 2003 Mr. Lusk filed his 2000 return; he said he owed nothing. Last week, a jury let him know the truth. His bill, when all is said and done, will be $843,000 in tax (plus penalties and interest), and up to five years at ClubFed and a $250,000 fine.

The tax laws apply to us all, and perhaps Mr. Lusk now realizes that.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 15th, 2009 at 11:26 pm and is filed under Tax Evasion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

One Response to “You Can’t Get Off the Mailing List”

  1. taxrascal says:
    March 16, 2009 at 11:17 am

    Seems like he was really asking for trouble:

    In January 2003, Lusk filed a joint 1040 return for the calendar year 2000, which should have been filed in 2001, in which he claimed that he and his spouse had no income and that there was no tax due or owed, Wilkins said.

    Lusk asked for a refund of an estimated tax, which had been paid in 2000, he said.

    That’s pretty brave: “Taxes don’t apply to me — but refunds do!”