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Snipes No Action Hero For Taxpayers

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 15, 2008

Wesley Snipes should have learned from reality television star Richard Hatch, who spent four-plus years in prison for failing to pay taxes on the $1 million he won on the debut season of "Survivor."

Public figures like Hatch and Snipes all but dare the Internal Revenue Service to go after them when they fail to pay taxes on large, publicly known salaries.

But Snipes believes he should be exempt from paying taxes. From 1999 to 2004, he paid no taxes on the $38 million he earned for appearing in more than half a dozen movies. He's also charged with filing a false claim for a $7 million refund and writing the IRS $14 million in worthless checks.
Snipes blames an unlicensed Sarasota accountant for his mismanaging his filings. That accountant, Doug Rosile, was sued by the IRS in 2002 for his fraudulent filing of Snipes' taxes.

But the actor had plenty of time to make things right before his indictment in 2006. Now, if convicted, he faces 16 years in federal prison.

The actor's legal defense suggests the actor was the victim of bad tax advice. But Snipes is no victim. He knew what he was signing and should take responsibility for it.

And his attempt to move the trial from Ocala - by calling it a hotbed of racism - was as phony as the return that said he owed no taxes.
Snipes was more believable as a half-man, half-vampire in the "Blade" movies.

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