Taxes? We Don't Need No, Stinkin Taxes.....
Floridians do not like taxes. We hate taxes. We are one of the few states in the Union to not have a State Income Tax. Heck, we hate taxes so much that, even being in the Bible Belt, we elected to have a lottery before allowing a State Income Tax. In the county next to mine, they continued to vote themselves a dry county for years...to avoid the tax people wanted to place on alcohol. They just drove to our county, bought it, and drove home.
So when a local business man got popped for Income Tax evasion, we most likely would have just let it go. Oh, we would of punished him...a little, cause the Federal Goverment said we had to. But it most likely wouldn't have been much. Heck he was semi applauded for trying to take the entire rapp himself, saying that his partner had nothing to do with it. The Judge would not accept his guilty plea how ever and forced the issue to trial. The fact that his partner is his long time friend and former lover (with whom he has a child) just made the story more juicy. We southerners love our gossip and scandal. Where he messed up though was in giving away his daddy's land. This is something no southerner will forgive.
You can rob your neighbor, your business partner, cheat on your wife, cheat on your taxes, but you never ever steal from your parents! The man was slick. He traded the land for a beach house with a high class lawyer and a former senator (who also got popped for tax evasion and a few othe land swindle deals), but in order to hide it from his dad, had a life estate clause in the deal. Basicly Daddy would live on the land for the rest of his natural life at no cost. Daddy only found out the first time when he went to pay his property tax and was informed he didn't own the land. Well he raised quite a fuss and to shut him up they put in the life estate clause. Telling Daddy the land was his again. Would of worked too...except for the IRS and their sneaky tax evasion investigation. They let Daddy know real fast what was up.
If your curiosity gets the best of you, you can read the details.
And ya'll thought life in a small town was boring....
So when a local business man got popped for Income Tax evasion, we most likely would have just let it go. Oh, we would of punished him...a little, cause the Federal Goverment said we had to. But it most likely wouldn't have been much. Heck he was semi applauded for trying to take the entire rapp himself, saying that his partner had nothing to do with it. The Judge would not accept his guilty plea how ever and forced the issue to trial. The fact that his partner is his long time friend and former lover (with whom he has a child) just made the story more juicy. We southerners love our gossip and scandal. Where he messed up though was in giving away his daddy's land. This is something no southerner will forgive.
You can rob your neighbor, your business partner, cheat on your wife, cheat on your taxes, but you never ever steal from your parents! The man was slick. He traded the land for a beach house with a high class lawyer and a former senator (who also got popped for tax evasion and a few othe land swindle deals), but in order to hide it from his dad, had a life estate clause in the deal. Basicly Daddy would live on the land for the rest of his natural life at no cost. Daddy only found out the first time when he went to pay his property tax and was informed he didn't own the land. Well he raised quite a fuss and to shut him up they put in the life estate clause. Telling Daddy the land was his again. Would of worked too...except for the IRS and their sneaky tax evasion investigation. They let Daddy know real fast what was up.
If your curiosity gets the best of you, you can read the details.
And ya'll thought life in a small town was boring....
posted by Bk30 at 1/12/2007 09:54:00 PM
6 Comments:
I lived in Jacksonville for several years. I LOVE Florida! I LOVE the SOUTH!!
What I love about the South is how passionate it is about things like income taxes and not paying them. I means that you get two Southerners together and conversation will fascinate an outsider. Which reminds me that I promised I would learn barbecue one day - not one of my Southern friends believes that Australians know how to do a real barbecue.
Interesting, the only state I was aware of with no income tax is Nevada. For Nevada it makes sense - the $$$ from the gambling industry more than makes up for the lack of state income tax. How is the state funded in Florida? Selling out-of-staters swampland?
(My favorite Florida tax evader is Kent Hovind, for sheer chutzpah)
hehe that was funny. I guess if they can catch Al Capone there's no hope for a man that gives away his Daddy's land
Waddaya mean Gillian? Aussies and Kiwis do the BEST barbeques.
Peggy, we have taxes..property,sales, luxary but no State Income tax :)
Ah, makes sense they'd make up the difference from somewhere :-)
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