Jailed French Drug Dealer Sent Tax Bill For Heroin Earnings

Almost $60,000

An imprisoned French drug dealer has been told to pay €80,000 in taxes on money he earned from selling heroin, his lawyer has said.

The bill is based on the man's estimated earnings through heroin deals between 2008 and 2011 and even takes into account deductions for transport costs.

"They addressed my client as a micro-entrepreneur [self-employed freelancer]," lawyer Samira Boudiba told AFP on Monday. "They are levying on his drug trafficking since 2008 based on estimated turnover."

"It is quite extraordinary," she added. "How can you tax a business that's completely illegal?"

In the letter sent to the man, who was convicted of drug trafficking offences in March last year and is currently serving a four-year sentence in Nancy in eastern France, the French tax authorities outline a detailed estimate of his earnings.