Taxable Talk

When we last left Richard Hatch, the $1 million winner from Survivor who didn't pay his income taxes, he withdrew his plea of guilty. He now claims, in an interview with AP, that CBS should have withheld his taxes because under California law he should have been classified as an employee.

Ignoring, for the moment, the merits of his claim, ignorance of withholding does not alleviate one's responsiblity for paying income tax. Penalties, however, could be eliminated depending on the truth of Mr. Hatch's claim.

What will add to the confusion during trial (if this goes to trial) is that Mr. Hatch is a resident of Rhode Island. CBS (now part of Viacom) is headquartered outside of California. Survivor was filmed in the South Pacific. Frankly, Mr. Hatch is probably going to be forking over the ~$300,000 the government says he owes, along with interest. After all, there were only 300 million witnesses to his winning the $1 million...