Outplay, Outlast, Outlaw

Fat naked guy Richard Hatch, the original Survivor champeen, has pled guilty to tax evasion in the state of Rhode Island. Hatch declined to report either the $1,010,000 he received from the show or another $321,000 he was paid as a radio personality in Boston. I would have expected Hatch, a man of many devices, to have worked out some clever scheme wherein he didn't report income earned while on "an island in the South China sea," but his only plan to evade taxation (er, theft of personal property by an unconstitutional autocracy) appears to have been a variation on Steve Martin's "I forgot!" The guilty plea ensures Hatch will get a lesser sentence than the maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine—so no Surivor: Otisville.

Hatch documents from Rhode Island district court here. Video of Hatch story, with look at svelte, shaven and clothed Hatch, here.

Comments

[Mo]

What an idiot. He wins a million dollars on one of the most watched show in the country and doesn't report it? Not even trying to use some legal kung fu to get around tax laws. Say what you will about taxes being theft, but this sort of stupidity deserves punishment.

[Ricky]

I thought the tax on prize money was like 40 something percent. I fine of 250K is a lot less than 40% of his mil.

[Tim Cavanaugh]

Presumably the fine will be in addition to, not instead of, the tax bite.

[Della]

Poor guy, having to pay tax on a prize!...and then he gets hammered again for not paying an iniquitous tax. In Britain and a lot of other places prizes are tax free even if you win millions on the lottery.

[Della]

Oh yes, and if he had gone to "an island in the South China sea," he would still had to have payed the tax because the U.S. taxes its citizens abroad, exactly as if they were property of the US goverement. I think only two countries in the world do that, the USA, and some shitty third world country in Africa I can't remember the name of.

[Warren]

Hey Tim, that last link goes to the same place as the previous one.

Agreed this guy is an idiot. But then we knew that because he was on a "reality" show. That alone would be enough to label him a Looser if he hadn't won the thing. But now, maybe huh. It's a toss up as to whether the contestants or the viewers are the biggest boobs. (Apologies to my cousin, 'Skinny' Ryan.)

[Isaac Bartram]

Presumably the fine will be in addition to, not instead of, the tax bite.

Indeed, by the time he's paid the tax owed, the penalties, the interest and the fine plus court costs and legal fees this guy is not gonnna have a nickel to his name.

Della, I hadn't realized the UK didn't tax winnings. There's quite a racket in Canada with high cash income earners shuttling off to the Bahamas and Vegas to convert their cash to gambling "winnings" or else all those Canadian car dealers and mechanics are really, really good card players. 🙂

[Tim Cavanaugh]

Thanks for the heads up. Link fixed.

[Tim Cavanaugh]

He wins a million dollars on one of the most watched show in the country and doesn't report it?

I suspect, based on his totally al fresco stylings on the island, that the Hatch method is to hide in plain sight.

[Agammamon]

Della,
Japan, Canada, Mexico, Italy, India are just some of the counries that tax income no matter where its earned.

In some (like the US) you can reduce your tax bill by the amount of tax you pay to the country you're working in. Others (like Japan) tell you that if you want to retain citizenship you pay them the full tax with no reduction.

[Solitudinarian]

Della,

The "shitty third world country in Africa [you] can't remember the name of" is Libya.

[Solitudinarian]

Oh, and Germany is another country that does not tax lottery winnings.

[Mr. Nice Guy]

So are they going to film the next Survivor in prison? That should be pretty interesting.

Seriously, I hate these fucking reality shows. I think they're idiotic, and this is coming from a guy who likes professional wrestling.

[Colonel Ghadafi]

Libya no shit 3 world. I cut nuts off.

[Della]

Agammamon,

Japan, Canada, Mexico, Italy, India are just some of the counries that tax income no matter where its earned.

You are definately wrong on Canada, Italy, India and Japan, they use the 183 day rule, not so sure about Mexico, but I can find nothing that says it does tax non-resident citizens.

Others (like Japan) tell you that if you want to retain citizenship you pay them the full tax with no reduction.

I have googled and not found anything that says that for Japanese citizens. If you look at the case of Alberto Fujimori, a former President of Peru who was born in Peru to Japanese parents and never lived in Japan till he went there to escape the law it would seem that Japan has normal citizenship criteria.

[CharlesWT]

Japanese tax law provides a credit for foreign income taxes paid on foreign source income which is also taxable in Japan. A "special reduction" capped at ?250,000 (?40,000 for local tax purposes) is available to all individual taxpayers. Country Spotlight: Japan (.pdf)

[Della]

Charles,

That seems to be a tax credit for foreign income paid to people resident in Japan which is different from what I'm talking about vis-a-vi the US.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. If you and I were to go and live in Sark, a British dependency in the English channel with no taxes:

I as a UK citizen would pay no UK taxes or any other sorts of taxes, since there is no requirment to do so because I'm living in Sark not the UK. When I went to visit the mainland UK I would get a wave and a smile as usual.

You as a US citizen would be obliged to pay federal income tax with a $70,000 deduction for living abroad, and depending on the law of the last state you were in you may have to pay state taxes as well. Of course you could just not pay the taxes, and when you went to visit the US you may well get the unfriendliest of body cavity exams, several years in jail, a massive fine and a bill for back tax. You could try to get rid of your US citizenship but if they thought you were doing it for tax purposes rather than because you hated the US they would deny it. That's what I'm talking about.