Over the past week two professional athletes have had their IRS tax problems splashed across the headlines. First on the list is professional golfer Jim Thorpe, who has pleaded guilty to failing avoiding over $2 million in federal income taxes.
According to the Associated Press, Thorpe was charged in February with seven counts of failing to pay federal taxes on income he earned in 2002, 2003 and 2004. He will face a maximum of two years in prison and a $4.1 million fine when sentenced.
The other was famed boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. who recently agreed to pay $5.6 million in back taxes after the IRS threatened to take the money from winnings that resulted from his victory Juan Manuel Marquez. Check out the following article on Mayweather’s tax problems from Google News.
The IRS sent the Nevada Athletic Commission a levy notice on Sept. 4 ordering Mayweather's unpaid taxes from 2007 to be deducted from his $10 million fight purse, commission executive director Keith Kizer told The Associated Press.
Kizer said the IRS backed off one week later, after Mayweather agreed to pay the money. Mayweather won the fight in a unanimous decision.
Mayweather's tax attorney, Jeffrey Morse, told the AP on Tuesday that federal officials never intended to take Mayweather's purse, and the five-division champion has satisfied all his IRS debts.