Actor Terrence Howard has been ordered to pay nearly $1 million in back taxes after expressing how “immoral” it is “for the United States government to charge taxes to the descendants of slaves.”
With the Oscar-nominated actor’s last known residence being listed in the Plymouth Meeting community of Philadelphia, a judge there has ordered him to pay the back taxes, interest, and penalties, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
Howard, 54, is accused of rejecting IRS efforts to collect $578,000 in income taxes he failed to pay between 2010 and 2019. The Empire” star is said to have declined the collection efforts for more than a year.
Even after the Justice Department sued him in 2022 in hopes of taking the case to court, Howard is accused of only responding via a voicemail he left for the lead tax attorney in November where he denied the back owed funds and said slave descendants shouldn’t be expected to pay taxes. A transcript of the voicemail was included in the case filings.
“Four hundred years of forced labor and never receiving any compensation for it,” Howard allegedly said in the voicemail. “Now you have the gall to try and prosecute and charge taxes to the descendants of a broken people that you are responsible for causing the breakage.”
forwp-incontent-custom-banner ampforwp-incontent-ad2">After the recording cut off midsentence, Howard called the attorney back to continue his rant.
“In truth, the entire United States should, by default, become the property of the descendants of slaves,” he said. “But since you do not have the ability [or] the courage to do it, let’s try this in court.…We’re gonna bring you down.”
Despite his threats, Howard failed to respond to the lawsuit, prompting a court hearing last week where U.S. District Judge John F. Murphy granted the government’s request to enter a $903,115 default judgment against the actor.
The Hustle & Flow
star has a history of tax issues, including the $639,000 in tax liens that were recorded against the 2,450-square-foot property he owned in Plymouth Meeting in 2005 and 2006. He settled the liens, but in 2010 the IRS placed a $1.1 million lien on the property due to Howard’s failure to fulfill income tax obligations for 2007 and 2008.In 2019, the State of California Franchise Tax Board issued an additional lien against Howard, claiming he owed $144,000 from as far back as 2010. That same year, federal prosecutors in Philadelphia launched a criminal investigation into Howard and his spouse, Mira Pak, for alleged tax evasion.
Last year, Howard was included on the board’s list of the state’s Top 500 tax delinquents, citing a total debt of $256,000 in overdue taxes, penalties, and fees. Recent reports include Howard among a star-studded cast set to appear in Peacock’s limited series Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist.
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