A Strip of Evasion

I’m heading to Florida tomorrow, so posting will be light to non-existent until the weekend. Until then, here’s yet another story of someone who got into tax trouble from a strip club. And, yes, the name of the individual did grab my attention.

Matthew Fox (no relation) was a bouncer at an Atlantic City, New Jersey strip club beginning in 1998. Later he was the manager of the club. Last week a jury convicted him of five counts of tax evasion for not reporting the approximately $400,000 he earned from the club (and evading about $110,000 in taxes according to this story). Mr. Fox and his wife were acquitted on a count of criminal conspiracy.

The indictment alleged that Mr. Fox was paid in cash for his work, but didn’t report the cash as income on his tax returns. Whether you are paid in cash, checks, or casino chips is irrelevant—in general, all wage income is taxable.

So if you do end up working at a strip club, do yourself a favor and report your income. It’s a lot easier and cheaper to pay the taxes now then it is to find yourself in court on trial for tax evasion.

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